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Date October 24, 2025
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Brown celebrates its newest Nobel laureate, Peter Howitt, in a return visit to Providence

The professor emeritus of economics and 2025 Nobel winner spent the day on Brown’s campus, where he enjoyed visits with former colleagues and a celebration at the Faculty Club.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Ten days after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Brown University Professor Emeritus of Economics Peter Howitt returned to campus on Oct. 23 for a daylong visit to celebrate with Brown colleagues, who toasted his achievement at an event at Brown’s Faculty Club.

“I’m overwhelmed by all of the events of this week, but nothing means more than to hear from my former colleagues and to be back here [at Brown], where I enjoyed so many years together with them and in this wonderful environment,” Howitt said at a celebration packed with faculty members and graduate students. “I’m proud of what happened, and I hope that you all will be proud… of creating such a wonderful environment for me.”

Howitt, who shares one half of the Nobel Prize in Economics with Philippe Aghion of the Collège de France and INSEAD in Paris and the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom for their “theory of sustained growth through creative destruction,” traveled to Providence with his wife, Pat, from their home in North Carolina. 

“I haven’t been back for 10 years, since I retired, and I’ve always wanted to come back — and I thought, if I don’t come back on this occasion, I’m not ever going to make it,” he said in an interview before the event. Howitt added that he wanted his visit to be relatively low-key, and that while in town he hoped to take a walk through the East Side neighborhood where he used to live.

In remarks at the celebration, Brown President Christina H. Paxon, a professor of economics and of international and public affairs, praised Howitt’s outstanding contributions to the field — which include creating a mathematical model that captures the economic theory of creative destruction — before describing the excitement around the award at the University. 

‘The whole Brown community is so proud,” Paxson said. “I’ve been hearing from students, faculty in many fields and alumni. It really is just a point of pride for the entire University and will be for many years to come. So I want to thank you for your work and your contributions to Brown and to the world. It’s important research and it shows that we are a university that takes important scholarship seriously, and we do it very well.” 

Peter Howitt toast
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During his visit to Brown's campus, Peter Howitt, center, pictured with his wife, Pat Howitt, right, held up a glass with colleagues who were toasting his Nobel Prize. Photos by Nick Dentamaro/Brown University.

A small group talking at celebration
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Brown University President Christina H. Paxson was among the faculty members who congratulated Peter Howitt.

Christina Paxson delivering remarks
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Brown University President Christina H. Paxson thanked Peter Howitt for his contributions to the field during a celebratory event.

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Nobel laureate Peter Howitt enjoyed catching up with colleagues during a day-long visit to Brown's campus.

Many colleagues who worked with Howitt during his tenure at Brown, which spanned from 2000 to 2013, emphasized the Nobel laureate’s patience, humility and generosity with his time.

“Of course the work he did was brilliant, but in thinking to myself and also in talking to a bunch of former students, I was reminded what an unusually nice guy he is,” said Brown Professor of Economics David Weil. 

Brown Professor of Economics Roberto Serrano, a former chair of the department, recalled asking Howitt if he might teach part-time after his formal retirement because the department at the time was in need of faculty to teach its graduate-level microeconomics sequence. 

“He taught for two years after he retired, which shows the kind of leadership and commitment that Peter had to our department and to our program,” Serrano said.

“ Nothing means more than to hear from my former colleagues and to be back here [at Brown], where I enjoyed so many years together with them and in this wonderful environment. ”

Peter Howitt Brown University Professor Emeritus of Economics and 2025 Nobel laureate

Several graduate students in attendance said that Howitt’s Nobel Prize is exciting and inspirational.  

“His work is extremely influential, and even before I joined the department, I knew of Peter and his work,” said Maria Medellin Esguerra, a Brown Ph.D. candidate who first encountered Howitt and Aghion’s mathematical model of creative destruction as an undergraduate at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. “We are all strategizing how we can get him to take a selfie with us.”

Department of Economics Chair Kareen Rozen said that since Howitt won the prize, she has enjoyed hearing about his “large and small” contributions, which, she said jokingly, included the procurement of a department espresso machine. 

“It was our pleasure to celebrate together this momentous recognition of his scholarship and thank Peter for his contributions,” Rozen said after the event.

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