Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professorship Panel Discussion 2026

The Sanjaya Lall Memorial Fund is proud to welcome Professor Sendhil Mullainathan (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) as the Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professor of Business and Development at the University of Oxford.

Join Professor Mullainathan and an expert panel featuring Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Raia Hadsell, chaired by Professor Johannes Abeler, to discuss the topic:

'Science in the Age of Algorithms'

Tuesday 19 May, 17:00 – 19:00

Mathematical Institute, Andrew Wiles Building

Please click HERE to register for this event

Sendhil Mullainathan

Distinguished Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professor

Peter de Florez Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sendhil Mullainathan is the Peter de Florez Professor at MIT, splitting his time between the Economics and the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments. His current research is at the intersection of algorithms and people, with a central focus on launching The Bike Shop @ MIT. A new research centre which works towards more human-centred AI through scalable bicycles for the mind, and innovative new gears for machine learning algorithms.

He enjoys writing, having co-authored Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much as well as having written regularly for the New York Times.

He is active in the application of research insights. He helped co-found a non-profit to apply behavioral science (ideas42); co-founded a center to promote the use of randomized control trials in development (the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab), and co-founded Dandelion Health, a company that provides the healthcare data needed to build breakthrough medical AI. He also serves on the board of the MacArthur Foundation and, has worked in government in various roles.

Sendhil has recently returned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – where he began his academic career- as a Professor of Economics and Peter de Flores Professor of EECS. Prior to returning to MIT Sendhil was the Roman Family University Professor of Computation and Behavioral Science at Chicago Booth, before which he was the Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.

He is a recipient of the MacArthur “genius” Award, is a winner of the Infosys Prize, has been designated a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, labelled a “Top 100 Thinker” by Foreign Policy Magazine, and named to the “Smart List: 50 people who will change the world” by Wired Magazine (UK).

In memory of Professor Sanjaya Lall.

The Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professorship at the University of Oxford was created to honour the memory and academic legacy of Professor Sanjaya Lall (1940-2005). The distinguished scholarship scheme has run for over a decade, inviting some of the most prestigious international economists to the University. In 2023, the Department of Economics hosted Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz as the Distinguished Sanjaya Lall Visiting Fellow, and Professor Raj Chetty as the Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professor.

Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professorship Panel Discussion 2026