Best-selling author and expert in economics field research to deliver James C. Snyder Memorial Lecture

John List, the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, will be the guest speaker for Purdue University’s 47th annual James C. Snyder Memorial Lecture. 

The lecture is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 22 in the Dean’s Auditorium (Room 241) of the David C. Pfendler Hall of Agriculture on Purdue’s campus.

John List portrait
John List, the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago (Photo credit: John Boehm, Boehm Photography).

List’s lecture, “The Voltage Effect: Why Do So Many Ideas Fail To Deliver On Their Promise when scaled?,” will focus on his research conducting lab/field experiments to understand behavioral economics and include topics related to his new book “The Voltage Effect.” He will challenge the audience to rethink how to make optimal use of scientific insights generated for policy purposes. Additionally, the first 150 people to arrive at the Snyder Memorial Lecture will receive a free hardcopy of “The Voltage Effect,” which released earlier this year.

List has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, several textbooks, and in 2013 co-authored the international best seller “The Why Axis.” He was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011, and a fellow of the Econometric Society in 2015. List received the 2010 Kenneth Galbraith Award, the 2008 Arrow Prize for Senior Economists for his research in behavioral economics in the field, and was the 2012 Yrjo Jahnsson Lecture Prize recipient. He is a current editor of the Journal of Political Economy. List has also collaborated with several schools, charities and firms including: Lyft, Uber, United Airlines, Virgin Airlines, Humana, Sears, Kmart, Facebook, Google, General Motors, Tinder, The Citadel, Walmart and several nonprofits.

List joins a list of respected leaders in agricultural business and economics who have served as guest speakers for the James C. Snyder Memorial Lecture. The lecture series is the Department of Agricultural Economics’ signature annual event and was established in 1975 in honor of James C. Snyder, who served as a professor and researcher in agricultural economics at Purdue.

For more information about the event, visit the James C. Snyder Memorial Lecture website or contact Tracy Buck at tbuck08@purdue.edu or at 765-494-4191.

Featured Stories

The Ecology of Natural Disturbances class stands in front of the Smoky Mountains.
Disturbance Ecology Comes to Life on Spring Break Trip

Every other year, the FNR 53600/53601 Ecology of Natural Disturbances class takes a spring break...

Read More
The state fair midway, featuring crowds of people and a ferris wheel.
Meet Purdue Animal Sciences' 2026 Indiana State Fair Animal Ambassadors

Meet the Purdue Animal Sciences students educating visitors at Animal Town.

Read More
4 students stand in front of marshall porterfield, all in different space and NASA shirts, one carrying a plastic jug with a white fungus growing over a mycoponics tube inside. Grow tents line the background on each side.
Mushrooms in space: Purdue researchers invent mycoponics to cultivate fungi for Earth, the moon and beyond

Porterfield founded MycoGravity — the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology...

Read More
The bell tower reflecting in a mirrored sign that displays Purdue University’s fight song lyrics.
2026 Hovde Award nominees sought

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Each year, Purdue University recognizes a faculty or staff member...

Read More
Dr. Eva Haviarova receives her SWST fellow certificate in Korea; Haviarova stands with research posters about her work at the SWST conference.
Haviarova Named International Society of Wood Science and Technology Fellow

Eva Haviarova, professor of wood science, has been named a fellow of the International Society of...

Read More
Ag Barometer
After 3 months of decline, farmer sentiment rebounds in July

After three consecutive months of decline, farmer sentiment rebounded as the Purdue...

Read More