On October 11, 2021, Former Department Chair and UC Berkeley Class of 1950 Professor of Economics David Card was announced as the winner of the 2021 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his empirical contributions to labor economics. We compiled this selection of congratulatory notes in celebration and appreciation of Professor Card's work. If you would like to submit a note, you can do so here: Submit a note congratulation Professor David Card
I am sure all your current and former students are extremely happy and grateful that they had a chance to be your student. I just want to add to that: You are not only an amazing teacher and mentor to your Berkeley students but by hosting a wonderful visitor program, you have been giving an enormous opportunity to so many students/scholars like me from all over the world. Thank you for everything you do and I am so glad that it is acknowledged to the highest level! Congratulations!
Dear Dave,
Being your student, mentee, and friend has always been a privilege and honor. You changed forever the way I see the world, people's behavior, other research, and, indeed, economic theory. Learning to do research from you and trying to continue this path on my own has been both challenging and a joyride. I do research with joy thanks to you, and I love my work. For all of that, I'm deeply grateful to you and Berkeley Econ. This prize is a major score for the empirical econ team. My deepest, heartfelt congratulations on your Nobel Prize; you make us all proud!
Abrazos,
Eva
David may be more known to his students for his generosity of his time and talent for steering vague research ideas into stellar job market papers. His research speaks for itself for having long lasting impacts in so many important areas of public policy, but equally important is his contribution for inspiring so many applied economists to aim high and maintain high standards for drawing convincing conclusions. Thank-you.
A HUGE congrats to my principal thesis advisor David Card of @berkeleyecon on winning the 2021 @NobelPrize in Economics!! Go Bears!!! @UCBerkeley And Tigers too! @Princeton
Congratulations, David! You haven’t just done pathbreaking work in labor economics — you’ve done so much to define the field that the rest of us work in. This recognition is incredibly well deserved, and couldn’t come to a nicer person. Go Bears!
You taught us the core of labor economics in 250A; you taught us how to do research in the "labor therapy"; you taught us to have fun on Fridays wine o' clock. You trained hundreds of students, you inspired a whole world. Massive congratulations, Dave!
I am so happy for you David. We all thought this would happen one day and I am sure glad it has happened now! All of us in your orbit are better because of your love of economics, creativity and generosity.
Congratulations on finally obtaining a decent parking spot on campus!
Thank you for advising, supporting, and welcoming a consistently diverse population of students and scholars to Berkeley Economics: veterans, scholars of color, first-generation college and grad students, international scholars, and so on.
Thank you as well for always keeping it real with the economics profession and careers in the field.
Thank you for your service, sir!
Your contributions are enormous, but your humanity is even greater. Thank you for your encouragement, guidance and friendship.
Congratulations on winning the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics. Your work in labor economics has had a huge impact on my research and career. I felt very fortunate to be able to visit UC Berkeley in 2015 and to be part of the vibrant labor economics community that you have created.
You helped teach me, before we ever met, what good economics looks like. I am not surprised, but gratified, that you receive this recognition.
Congratulations, David! Very well deserved. You are an inspiration for all of us.
Hey David---I'm so happy for you and your truly monumental achievement! Your work is such an inspiration to us all---at the very least I can say that I wouldn't be doing the work I do today if not for your contributions to the field! Congratulations!
Dear David - It was already clear that your mark on economic scholarship is indelible and impactful. This prize is just the cherry on the icing of a career that has touched so many, either as a teacher, a mentor, a friend, or a remarkably thoughtful colleague. I am grateful to be part of the many people whom you have influenced. Congrats! Steve Tadelis
Congratulations!!! So glad that this honor will increase your positive influence on the world.
David,
Let's be honest, this one was kind of predictable. It was only a question of timing really. Thank you for your research, leading the way for so much of what applied micro is today. Thank you for being such a devoted teacher and mentor, even for those (like me) who were not your immediate advisees. It is yet another day to be a proud Berkeley econ alum. Mazal Tov!
Congrats Dave! I'm honored I had the opportunity to meet you and follow your courses!
Congratulations to Professor Card! Thanks for your teaching in Econ191, and we're all glad to hear you win the Nobel Prize!
I recall being inspired by your work as a prospective graduate student, and it has been a privilege to work as your colleague here at Berkeley.
David Card is an outstanding teacher and mentor. I am grateful to him for the time he took to help me navigate my research and complete my graduate studies. I have always been awed by his ability to take incredibly complicated economic events and to distill them to their essence of what really matters. This award is so well deserved; congratulations! Berkeley Economics is lucky to have someone like David Card on its faculty!
Card (and Krueger) are legends. Sincere congratulations on a lifetime of incredible contributions to the field of Economics!
You are a great inspiration and your work is extremely significant. My most sincere congratulations to you. I am in awe!
My father was a long time Economics faculty member (I graduated in Political Science), and I always celebrate the amazing contributions the Economics faculty at Berkeley has made and continues to make. Congratulations for your outstanding achievement!!
Big congrats to my former applied econometrics professor, David Card.
When I read David's empirical work, I was inspired to pursue econometrics and statistics further. As a lecturer, he was kind and rigorous, and taught topics that enabled me to build more skills and read academic papers even after graduating. In a time where industry professionals such as myself focus heavily on machine learning and prediction due to availability of big data, the teachings of causal econometrics (especially quasi-experimental methods), to which David is a key contributor, are more important than ever.
Hearty Congratulations Professor Card. Thank you for your critical research and contributions toward a better and more equitable society.
Incredibly proud of the amazing UC Berkeley econ department, and many congratulations to Prof. David Card!!!!!!!!!!
Dear David, I am extremely happy that the Nobel committee decided to honor you with this year’s prize. In turn, it’s been a great honor to coincide with you at UC Berkeley while pursuing my PhD, even if I did end up becoming a macroeconomist.
Congratulations, Dave, on this well-deserved honor! Your work has transformed our field -- and our department -- for the better.
It is a great pleasure to learn the Nobel Prize news for Professor Card. His work makes a remarkable contribution to an important issue facing the world. Congratulations to Professor Card!!
Congratulations on the Nobel Prize! I went back and read it! Although I do very different stuff now, Econ101A was one of those courses that stayed with me
Congrats on the prize, thank you for contributing to social sciences.
Dear David, Congratulations!!
An honor well-deserved! Congratulations, David!
Congratulations! Your work on wages and employment apparently has not reached many Members of Congress. Or perhaps they are in a state of denial.
Congratulations Professor Card! Your work showed me how economic research can reveal truths about the lives and realities of so many people. I am continue to carry the lessons I learned from you in Econ C142 in my own research. Thank you for inspiring the future generations of economics researchers!
Congratulations! You deserve this, Professor Card!
Dear David, congratulations on this (extremely well-deserved) recognition. Your contributions are a constant inspiration for many of us. And thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us, students, through your help, advice, and availability. Your second-year class was key for our development as researchers, I'm sure the complete cohort agrees with that statement. And, perhaps more importantly, thanks always for the generosity, the humbleness, the good attitude, and your sense of humor. The joy all of us have speaks for you as an economist, mentor, and person. Best,
Congratulations to Professor Card! It is always great to see faculty and graduates of U.C. Berkeley honored! Proud to be a Berkeley alum!
Congratulations professor and go bears!
Like many students at Berkeley, I’ve always believed Professor Card winning a Nobel is not a question of if but when. Yet when it came true I was still overwhelmed with joy and pride. Congratulations to my mentor and friend!!! Montaigne says true friends are free from words of acknowledgement and thanks, but I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your constant support and inspiration, for being just a call/email away, for picking me up from rock bottom so many times without knowing… Looking forward to continuing learning from you to be a better economist, and more importantly, a better person!!!
Dave, my sincere congratulations on winning the Nobel prize!
Congratulations, David, on a well-deserved award!
Congratulations Prof Card!!!! You show true Blue and Gold colors. Roll on your Laureate Cal Bear
For 27 years and counting, it's been a great honor and gift to hear your sage advice about everything from majoring and math courses, to event studies and panel fixed effects, and real-time scientific updates about the economics of immigration. Thank you for everything, and I pledge that next time, that Mustang that MacArthur rents will be a convertible.
Congratulations David!! Thank you so much for all the help so far! You're an example not only for your (incredible) academic achievements, but also for your dedication to us students!!
Finally, after several years of being tantalizingly close, the Nobel committee recognized the use of natural experiments to investigate causal (casual) relationships.
Thanks to Dave for being instrumentally supportive of simple visitors like me!
Congratulations Professor Card! It's finally come true. We've studied your work in both Economics and Statistics. We knew from the very beginning that your work was groundbreaking! We're proud to be a part of the same university as you.
Phil Levine called me one day telling me you were moving to Berkeley and I was so lucky. So lucky indeed! You came to Berkeley as I was working to complete my PhD. You gave me so much time! I think you basically gave me my dissertation topic too. Thank you for mentoring students and supporting them. I now lead a Head Start agency trying to prevent poverty as I believe in the research! In my role, labor economics is very interesting right now given the child care shortage and pressure on wages. Congrats to you and a huge thank you!
Congratulations, Professor Card. Thank you for lighting the way and inspiring generations of economists to confront the unknown.
Proverbs 22:29 Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Congrats David, Proverbs 22:29 is totally you!
Prof. Card, congratulations on winning the Nobel Peace Prize, which you so richly earned. More than ever, your accomplishments have demonstrated a prominent leading role in modern labor economics. Prof. Card, thank you for being the man you are! I wish you the best of luck in your future undertakings.Best wishes for your ongoing success and excellent health.
Congratulations David! I am so honored to be your colleague.
Many congratulations, David! You make all of Berkeley proud!
The Nobel award says “for his empirical contributions to labour economics”, but it should have said "for bringing the scientific attitude into the field of economics". Thank you and very well deserved!
Congratulations! Big ideas are like starting a snowball rolling on the mountaintop, yours have created an avalanche that has benefitted my work and field and so many others. Thank you for helping advance credibility in research.
Congratulations on a very well-deserved prize! Your contributions in the field are a huge inspiration to all. I continue to learn so much from your advice and our discussions and I look forward to many more to come!
Congratulations! Go Bears
Biggest congratulations to Professor Card for the well-deserved Nobel Prize - in fact I’ve been waiting for this moment! I had the pleasure of taking two advanced economics courses with Prof Card and he was hands down one of the best lecturers I ever had throughout my undergrad and grad school years. He is extremely sharp and approachable with a good sense of humor. Taking his classes was the best decision I made.
Go Bears!
Congratulations, David!! It's been a privilege to be a student at a department so shaped by you and your work, and I've really enjoyed and learned a lot from our conversations. Very happy for you and for the profession.
Congrats Dave on a monumental achievement, and many thanks for your decades of groundbreaking work!
Congratulations! Well-deserved!
Dear David,
Please receive my most heartfelt congratulations on your well-deserved prize. Not only are you a tremendous researcher, but you are also a thoughtful and dedicated mentor. I learned much of what I know about the research process from you during "Labor Therapy" at Berkeley and have the best memories from the Friday evenings at the CLE!
We will be drinking wine tonight in your honor!
Best,
Juliana
Congratulations, Professor Card!
Hi David - a much deserved award. As a labour economist myself, I have appreciated and followed your work throughout your career. It has been transformational. Many congratulations. Brian
Congratulations, David! As a UC Berkeley alumna, I am so proud that you were awarded this year's Nobel Prize! Your work has been a continuous source of inspiration for my research on inequality in Latin America. We have all learned so much from you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Nora
Dear Dave, you are the most brilliant and kind person that I have ever met. It’s encouraging to known that the history will remember you and the new generations will be able to guide their inquiries under the light that you ignited. I feel privileged to have somebody like you to look up to.
Looking forward to see you in person to celebrate!
Congratulations on this well-deserved honor, Professor Card!
Learning and interacting with David Card has been a real highlight of my experience as a labor student at Berkeley: from classes, labor therapy, and office hours, I have many wonderful stories of his guidance and mentorship. I can’t imagine a better person to win the Nobel Prize: congratulations, David!
Dave, I am so happy for you. Couldn't have gone to a more humble man. Its a pleasure working for you!!! Do I have to address you as Nobel Laureate David Card now? ;)
Congratulations, David, on the well-deserved honor! You are a source of inspiration for so many Berkeley students, including myself. I have really benefited from your feedback during labor therapy in my third year and throughout the entire PhD.
This important Nobel prize was long in the waiting. The credibility revolution has had a profound influence on empirical economics and also increasingly so in other social sciences. A great Nobel prize. If Alan Krueger was still among us, he would surely also have been a recipient.
On a personal note, I am very proud to be David Card's colleague. There have been 4 Nobel prize awards to Berkeley economics faculty since I was hired more than 20 years ago.I am very grateful to be surrounded by such giants in the field.
Such wonderful news -- So well deserved and long due! Though I think a 4 am prank call from "Adam Smith" to inform you of your second Nobel is definitely in your future :) Congratulations Dave!!
Congratulations Dave. Thanks for inspiring and helping so many of us do research that can change the world!
Congratulations David! Your ideas about how to approach economic research, and their application to important questions, have profoundly affected how I think about and teach economics. It's a privilege to be your colleague.
Economics is not an armchair science anymore. Credible empirical work is possible! Thank you, David, for transforming the field and paving the way for new generations!
Congratulations Dave on a much deserved prize -- and long live UC Berkeley economics!
What a historic moment to be in Berkeley! Your 1994 paper with the late Alan Krueger was my first ever empirical read in economics. It inspired not only me but an entire generation of economists to invest into working with data, to question predictions from economic theory, and to learn about the institutions we operate in. Many congratulations, Professor Card!
Labor economists are especially elated to celebrate David Card's Nobel Prize. His early quasi-natural experiment research on the Muriel boat list from Cuba to Miami provided a rigorous way to show that immigrants did not hurt the labor market outcomes (wages and unemployment) of the native and earlier immigrant workers, and labor economics was changed forever. Then his work on the minimum wage once again took on an important policy area where traditional economics was assumed to be right, until Card and Krueger showed that the minimum wage did not reduce employment as expected. Increasing the minimum wage has become a critical labor market policy to raise wages and reduce inequality. David Card’s work paved the way to show that the government and institutions play a major role in creating a more equitable, as well as effective labor market for the public good. Our congratulations and gratitude to David for his showing how economic research can help make the world a better place!
David, Congratulations on your long-deserved Prize. Please don't stop your biking, just because you've earned a free parking spot in the campus. Best wishes , Pranab
As Nobel time approached, my first thought was that it should go to David Card. Dave -- your research, teaching, mentoring, and support for economics are an inspiration for all of us. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor!
Congratulations Dave. This award could not have gone to a more deserving scholar, and you deserve another one for being a great colleague, mentor, and friend.
Congratulations David! This prize is well deserved. You have been a great inspiration to me, in terms of my approach to teaching econometrics. Cheers!
Dear David,
Congratulations on receiving this well-deserved award and recognition!
Your research has been inspiring generations of economists and researchers in other fields to go against the current and challenge conventional wisdom in rigorous ways for many years. The same is true about your teaching and advising. Many PhD students, me included, benefit tremendously from your open-minded approach and honest feedback. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, curiosity, and passion for social equity with us!
Congratulations Professor David Card!
Dear David, I am thoroughly pleased to learn that you won the Nobel Prize in Economics and I am very happy for you. John Giles
I couldn't be happier about David Card's Nobel Prize. Dave is one of the most influential and inspirational economists of our generation. He has had a huge impact on the way I think about nearly every important issue in labor economics. Moreover, and more importantly, Dave is one of the genuinely good people in the world. It am privileged to call him my colleague and friend.
Profe Card! Congratulations on this much deserved recognition. You have been a fantastic advisor, and I am so grateful for everything I've learned from you. Now we have a lifelong excuse (and funds) to toast to some pisco sours!!
Congratulations David! I celebrate and am grateful for your scholarship and your immense generosity as a teacher and mentor.
Congratulations on winning the Nobel, David! Your research and mentorship have inspired me and so many others. I still remember learning about Myth and Measurement as an undergrad and then getting the opportunity to interact and learn from you in grad school and beyond was something I will never forget. Best, Kory
Dear David, Thank you for the countless hours you have spent training students and showing us how to do economics well. I find myself regularly going back to your notes from graduate school and thinking about lessons you thought us. I remember furiously trying to write down the way you suggested pitching my job market paper, and can't thank you enough for all of your help. I aspire to teach graduate students in the same way that you taught me and will be forever grateful for your guidance and generosity. Congratulations on this well deserved award.
When my parents asked me why I chose to go to Berkeley for my PhD, I emailed them an article called “The Challenger” where they talked about this legendary Berkeley professor who revolutionized the field of labor economics, and who was also a kind, humorous, and generous mentor to many grad students. Little I knew that, a few years later, I would get to celebrate the Nobel prize of that professor!
So here we go: congratulations, David, and thank you for being such a source of inspiration for so many of us. And also thanks for challenging the conventional wisdom that Economists are boring :)
On top of your academic impact rewarded by the prize, you somehow found the time to encourage so many of us who had the chance to pass by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, as students or visitors. Thank you so much and congratulations, David!
David:
Congratulations! What a great source of inspiration for empirical economists like me, to see the Nobel Committee recognizing your incredible contribution in this field. The economics’ Nobel Prize has never felt more tangible for my work than this one, and I have never been this happy when hearing the Nobel’s news. I have been a huge fan of your work for many years. Your work inspired my passion for evidence-based analysis of active labor market policies and labor institutions. Thanks so much for your amazing work!
Congratulations David on a richly deserved honor!
As a behavioral economist, when I came to Berkeley in 2002 I did not expect to interact too much with David, given the difference in fields. And yet, David has been one of the 2-3 colleagues I have learnt the most from in my almost two decades at Berkeley. I learnt about methods, but also good ideas, tenacity, criticism, curiosity, dedication. What is most striking is that it is not about me: I would guess that half of my colleagues could say the same -- David has been one of the colleagues they learnt the most from! He is just a beacon of inspiration for so many of us. Congratulations!
Congratulations, Dr. Card ! Economics is a very competitive field, but people like you make it kinder and more fun. I was very lucky to collaborate with you, and it really inspired me to be more meticulous and hard-working, something i can only hope to pass on to my students.
Dave has an amazingly clear-eyed view of how people interact with each other and the broad ramifications of those interactions, with that clarity spanning hundreds of the occupations that comprise the human world. It speaks well of our profession that our greatest prize has awarded the fruits of that perception. I moved to California to apprentice myself to Dave and have never heard of a more insightful or supportive mentor. Congratulations, Dave: may this award promulgate your past work and inspire more in the future, from you, from the Berkeley School of economists you have built and undergirded, from your many former apprentices and other mentees the world over, and from the research community as a whole.
I thought this might happen some day, but oh my goodness what a moment! Congratulations, Dave. Thank you for everything -- training, mentoring, collaborations, and friendship. If you still have that Opus, now would be the time.
Professor Card — congratulations on this well-deserved award! Thank you so much for also being a wonderful and dedicated teacher and mentor. Go Bears!
Congratulations, Professor Card! You have been a great source of inspiration for me for the past few years. Thank you for your continuous support, and I am honored to be your student and your RA. I hope you can get your parking spot soon!