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Not On My Resume: Parag Pathak

May 17, 2022

Parag Pathak is a 2003 Fellow, a professor of economics at MIT, and the co-founder of Avela Education. He is the found­ing co-director of the NBER Working Group on Market Design, and founder of MIT’s School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative (SEII), a laboratory focused on education, human capital, and the income distribution. Parag’s family is from Nepal and he grew up in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

Why did you (or your family) come to America? Like so many, my parents came to the United States from Kathmandu, Nepal in 1969 for better job opportunities.

Which living New American do you most admire?I admire so many, but one person I’ve been following closely is Vijay Iyer. Like me, he grew up in upstate New York to South Asian parents. But he was bold enough to quit his physics PhD at Berkeley to become a leading jazz pianist and now teaches at Harvard.  

What is your current state of mind?
I’m optimistic about post-COVID life, having had time to reflect about the direction of my work, my life goals and dreams.  

When was the last time you felt imposter syndrome? I am grateful to be a professor of economics at MIT, but it’s hard not to feel like an imposter every day when 3 of the 20 or so offices in my hallway are occupied by Nobel Prize winners.

What is your greatest fear? Not having the political will to do the right thing.

If you could change careers and do anything, what would it be? I love my job, but I have a secret desire to dust off my saxophone and play in nightclubs.

What is your idea of a good life? Health, family, and leaving each institution you’ve been part of better off than before you arrived.
 
What is the one habit that you can’t live without? I started teaching my son how to play the guitar during the lockdown, and this reignited my own passion for music. Now I try to sneak in some practice every day.

What one piece of advice do you live by? Never waste will.
 
Who or what makes your heart beat faster when you think about them/it? My two young children.

This interview was originally published in the April, 2022 issue of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships’ monthly Distance Traveled newsletter. Sign up to receive the latest issue here. ∎