George Akerlof is University Professor at Georgetown University. His research is based in economics, but it often draws from other disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, and sociology. In 2001 he was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The Nobel Committee cited Akerlof's 1970 paper, "The Market for 'Lemons'," which for the first time described the role of asymmetric information in causing market collapse. In 2009 Professor Akerlof published Animal Spirits, with Robert Shiller; and in 2010, Identity Economics, with Rachel Kranton, His most recent book, Phishing for Phools, is, again with Shiller. Prior to joining Georgetown, Professor Akerlof taught, with only brief interruption, at the University of California at Berkeley from 1966 to 2008. He was Cassell Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics from 1978 to 1980. He was Visiting Scholar at the IMF from 2010 to 2014.

He has been senior economist at the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers. He served as president, vice president and member of the executive committee of the American Economic Association. He has been a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security. He co-convened the Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.