Richard H. Thaler is an American economist and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business . In 2015, Thaler was president of the American Economic Association . Thaler is a theorist in behavioral economics and has collaborated with Daniel Kahneman , Amos Tversky , and others on multiple occasions in further defining that field. In 2018, he was elected a member in the National Academy of Sciences . In 2017, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics . He combines a diverse range of insights from across the social sciences—including economists’ powerful analytical tools alongside rich evidence about real human behavior from other social sciences—especially psychology and sociology. In the 2018 Ryerson Lecture, he had a presentation about Behavioral Economics and Past, Present, and Future. Speech is star