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Amartya Sen, one of the leading economist of the world, was born to Ashutosh Sen and Amita Sen on 3 November, 1933 at Santiniketan. He was the first Asian to win the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Science for the contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members. He has worked on the causes of famine and how to limit the real or perceived shortages of food. He is currently a professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University . He is also a senior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, a fellow of Trinti College. He also serves as the first Chancellor of the proposed Nalanda International University. New Statesman listed him in their 2010 edition of World's 50 Most Influential People Who Matter.
Amartya Sen began his high school at St. George's School in Dhaka, now in Bangladesh, in 1941. His family came over to India in 1947 because of Partition. He studied at the Viswabharati University School and then at Presidency College, Kolkata. He stood first class first in Economics(Honours). He then moved to Trinity College, Cambridge. There he earned a first class (Starred First) BA (honours) in 1956. After completing his Tripos Examination, he had enrolled for a PhD in Economics at Trinity College. He returned to Kolkata on a two year leave. He was the Founder-Head of Department of Economics at Jadavpur University After two years, he returned to Trinity College to complete his PhD in 1959.
Between 1960-61, he became a visiting professor at various universities of America. He was a professor at the Delhi School of Economics from 1961-72. In 1972, he joined the London School of Economics as a professor of Economics and taught there until 1977. Owing to his glorious teaching records at various universities, he was appointed as Master of Trinity College in 1998.
Sen's papers in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped him develop the theory of social choice. His book Poverty and Famines : An essay on Entitlement and Deprivation(1981)is a book in which he argued that famine occurs not only from a lack of food, but also from unequal distribution of food. His contribution to department of Economics is the concept of 'capability'. His monograph Collective Choice and Social Welfare addresses problems related to individual rights, justice, equity, atc. He penned many books on welfare economics. He is called conscience of his branch of Economics. He has given an ethical dimension to the study of welfare economics. He acts as the guide, friends, and philosopher of the nation at present. We are really proud of this rare great genius.