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Richard G. Lipsey Award

The Richard G. Lipsey Award is given to the continuing PhD student with the best comprehensive exam results at the end of their first year. This award is named after emeritus professor Richard Lipsey, who has held professional posts at the London School of Economics, Essex University, and Queen's University, in addition to visiting posts at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Manchester, and the University of British Columbia.

2024 - Farhad Shahryarpoor

I began my PhD journey in Economics at SFU in Fall 2023. My academic path initially started in engineering, but partway through my bachelor’s degree, I discovered that my true passion lies in understanding human interactions, so I switched to economics.

While studying microeconomics, I became fascinated by the insights it offers into strategic interactions at the individual level, ranging from everyday experiences to the complex interplay of incentives. In macroeconomics, I was amazed to see how individual interactions within the aggregate economy can shape the long-term destinies of societies. The field of econometrics captivated me further, as it enables the development of tools to quantify economic phenomena. Over time, my interest in economics has only deepened, especially in how the discipline connects with other fields. Economics has proven to be a versatile and expansive field, far beyond my initial understanding.

With the guidance of the experienced faculty at SFU, I aim to build a strong foundation that will prepare me to make meaningful contributions to the field upon graduation.

Past winners

2023: P. Marie Zagre

I joined SFU in the fall semester of 2021 for my master's degree. At first, I was interested in macroeconomics and applied econometrics.

My interest in economics was pure chance. After my high school, I chose this field of study because it seemed more concrete to me than mathematics (another field in which I was interested). Attending my baccalaureate classes gave me a taste for what I was studying, especially macroeconomics. This is an area that both fascinated and intrigued me. Regarding econometrics, I think my interest stems from my love of programming and data. I love the demanding challenges I face when I have to program an algorithm, it stimulates me intellectually.

Right after my baccalaureate, I continued my master's. Indeed, I have always liked the academic environment and I take pleasure in learning new things. My field of interest has changed over the course of my master's program. I still have an interest in macroeconomics but have also developed an interest in behavioral and experimental economics, in short, a more microeconomic side.

Otherwise, as an activity I swim, I play the piano and I love to read. Right after my master's, I started my doctorate. I'll see what the future holds for me.

2022: Babak Sahragard

Babak Sahragard joined the SFU Economics department as a PhD student in 2021, after completing a Masters degree at the University of Calgary. His primary fields of interest are Decision theory, Mechanism design and Political Economy. His main objective is to take advantage of the brilliant faculty members and enriching experience of the Department, to develop skills for an academic career after graduation. 

2021: Dian Hong

After finishing his master's degree at the University of Alberta, Dian Hong decided to join SFU to further his education and pursue higher academic performance. A second year PhD student, his research interests are auction theory and applied microeconomics. He plans to stay in academia after completing his studies.

2021: Kiarash Hosseini

Kiarash started his Ph.D. in economics at SFU in 2020, after completing his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and his master’s degree in economics. Kiarash’s research focus is on applied econometrics, political economy, and labor economics.

2020: Azraf Ahmad

Azraf is a second-year PhD student in economics at SFU. After finishing his Masters at SFU, he decided to pursue further education to study the interaction of politics, culture, institutions, and the economy. Azraf got into Economics in the hope that his work will help understand how to make economic development more inclusive and productive.

2020: Hung Truong 

Born and raised in Sai Gon, Vietnam, Hung Truong is a second-year PhD student in economics at SFU. After completing his Bachelor's degree in Economics at Singapore (SIM) and California (UCSD), he joined SFU in 2018 to pursue graduate training in Economics. Hung enjoys exploring outcome of collective behavior of individuals in both computational and experimental environments. His research interests include monetary policy, behavioral economics and evolution of choice. Hung likes to share and exchange economic understanding with his students. Aside from all this, Hung is a novice hiker and tennis player.

2019: Zhifeng Sun

Zhifeng is a second-year PhD student in economics at SFU. After finishing his master's degree program in economics and finance at CEMFI, Madrid, he joined SFU in pursuit of research in development and political economics. One of his research interests is to study the evolution of social norms brought by the emergence of new economy, new social media and migration. 

About the Donor

Richard George Lipsey, FRSC, OC, Fellow of the Econometric Society, and Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, has held professorial posts at the London School of Economics and Essex University in England, and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, as well as visiting professorships at Yale, the University of California at Berkeley, Manchester, and the University of British Columbia. He was Senior Economic Advisor, C.D. Howe Institute (1983-89) and Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (1989-2002).

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