James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. He works to understand the origins of inequality, social mobility, the formation of skills, and regulation in labor markets. He also devises and applies empirical strategies to address these questions.

Heckman has published over 300 articles and 9 books. Heckman has received the Nobel Prize in Economics, the John Bates Clark Medal, the Jacob Mincer Award, the Dennis Aigner Award, the Ulysses Medal, the Theodore W. Schultz Award, the Frisch Medal, the Dan David Prize, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association.