Poets and Quants

Matthew Gentzkow teaches Competitive Strategy at Chicago's Booth School of Business and is among the best 40 under 40 business schools profs.

Matthew Gentzkow

Professor of Economics

Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow

Age: 35

Institution: University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Hometown: Shelton, Washington

Marital Status: Married

Children: Julien Gentzkow, born May 2010

Education: Harvard University, PhD, Economics

Harvard University, AM, Economics

Harvard University, AB, Economics

Courses: Competitive strategy

At Booth since: 2004

Before Booth:  PhD student at Harvard University

Admiring students say they wouldn’t dare walk into one of Matthew Gentzkow’s classes without being 110% prepared. Though fast with a cold call, Gentzkow tackles content that makes for lively and provocative discussions: Does the Internet hurt democracy? Is the Internet polarizing America? The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and other media houses have all turned to Gentzkow for answers to these stirring questions. This 35-year-old professor’s cross examination of the causes and consequences of media content has earned him widespread media coverage by some of the top news outlets–and consulting gigs from the likes of The New York Times. Among other things, he has found that when newspapers go out of business, particularly when they own a monopoly position in a city, fewer people vote.

Professor Gentzkow teaches Competitive Strategy and says he hopes Booth students will learn to ask more questions, think critically, and to realize that many arguments that sound good aren’t.

Students Say:

Professor Gentzkow’s competitive strategy course was an amazing class. He taught us popular strategy frameworks, but really focused on the fundamental microeconomic forces underlying them. Thanks to his insights, I see the economics of businesses and the world around me much more clearly. – Andrew Robertson, Booth MBA Class of 2011

Matthew Gentzkow is among “The World’s 40 Best B-School Profs Under the Age of 40“