Department of Economics
Graduate Award & Prize Winners
Eliot J. Swan Prize
The Eliot J. Swan Prize is awarded for the best performance in the first year of the Ph.D. program. Eliot J. Swan was a graduate student, teaching assistant and instructor in the Department of Economics at UC Berkeley from 1932-1941. He then went on to a career at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, where he eventually served as President. He retired from the bank in 1972, after 31 years of service.
Eliot J. Swan Winners
2025 Kaixin Wang
2024 Yahu Cong
2023 Jun Ru Lyu
2022 Catherine Che
2021 Yuki Ito
2020 Tomas Breach
2019 Harrison Wheeler
2018 Dong Wei
2017 Preston Mui
George Break Prize in Public Finance
The George Break Prize in Public Finance is being awarded to a student with outstanding performance in the Public Finance field courses. The prize was established in honor of George Break, a leading figure in public finance and a professor in the Economics Department for 40 years.
George Break Prize Winners
2025 Akcan Balkir
2024 Dustin Swonder
2023 Anders Yding
2022 Caleb Wroblewski
2021 Kai Zen
2020 Cristobal Otero
2019 Nina Roussille
2018 Isabelle Cohen
2017 Evan Rose and Isabela Manelici
Department of Economics Graduate Student Award for Public Policy Research
The Public Policy Prize is awarded to a student performing research in Economics relating directly to issues of Public Policy. Typical subjects include (but are not limited to) Public Finance, Regulation, Health, Transportation and Education. The decision is made by the faculty members who specialize in Public Policy.
Graduate Student Award in Public Policy Research Winners
2025 Javier Feinmann
2024 Felipe Lobel
2023 Patrick Kennedy
2022 Michael Love
2021 Nina Roussille
2020 Isabela Manelici
2019 Juliana Londoño Vélez
2018 David Schönholzer
2017 Natalie Cox
CEGA Doctoral Dissertation Prize in Development Economics
CEGA Doctoral Dissertation Prize in Development Economics is awarded in recognition of outstanding research in Development Economics through the dissertation. The goal of this award is to encourage and support high-quality quantitative research on international economic development. The decision is made by the faculty members who specialize in Development Economics.
CEGA Doctoral Dissertation Prize in Development Economics Winners
2025 Carlos Paramo
2024 Nicholas Swanson
Journal of Development Economics Award
The Journal of Development Economics Prize is awarded in recognition of outstanding work or research in Development Economics completed during the academic year. Its goal is to support students in their thesis writing. The decision is made by the faculty members who specialize in Development Economics.
Journal of Development Economics Prize Winners
2023 Maximiliano Lauletta
2022 Arlen Guarin
2021 Christina Brown
2020 Isabela Manelici
2019 Anne Karing
2018 Michael Walker
2017 Lauren Falcao Bergquist
The Grace Katagiri Prize
The Grace Katagiri Prize has been awarded since 2006. Grace Katagiri was a longtime employee of the economics department. This is awarded for the best empirical metrics paper submitted by a second year graduate student.
Grace Katagiri Prize
2019 John Wieselthier
2018 Isabelle Cohen
2017 Christopher Campos
Outstanding GSI Award Recipients
These awards are presented to outstanding graduate student instructors, selected by the Department based on teaching evaluations.
2025 Recipients
Pavel Bacherikov
Teresita Cruz Vital
Gonzalo Ferres
Sarah Frick
Louis Heizlsperger
Paula Jaramillo
Kiyea Jin
Gevorg Khandamiryan
Jianmeng Lyu
Alice Schmitz
Maximilian Schwarz
Sharath Sonti
Justine Weng
Kiyotaka Yageta
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR AWARD & PRIZE WINNERS!!!