Department of Economics Prizes
The department is delighted to be able to recognise the achievements of our best students by the award of a number of prizes. They are presented at our Graduation Day receptions each year. In recent years we have welcomed the following guests to the receptions to present the prizes:
- Emeritus Professor David Chappell, who joined the department in 1979 and was Head of Department from 2000 until his retirement in 2003
- Mrs Rhiannon Clayton, widow of Professor George Clayton
- Mr Peter Else, Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the department from 1963 until his retirement in 2001 and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences from 1996 to 2000
- Mr Jim Lanchberry of Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management
The Clayton Prize
The Clayton Prize was established and financed by George Clayton who was the Newton Chambers Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Sheffield from 1967 until his retirement in 1983. Prior to his appointment at Sheffield he held posts at the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester, and Aberystwyth.
He became Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences in 1968, served on various University Committees and became a Pro-Vice-Chancellor in 1987.
He was heavily influenced by the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and he remained a Keynesian all his life. He was the author of, or major contributor to, 10 books and over 60 articles in many different economics journals, including several in the Economic Journal, the foremost UK Economics Journal.
Throughout his life, he was heavily involved in broader policy making and public service. He was an Economic Advisor to the Governments of Gibraltar, Kenya, British Honduras and Tanzania.
He also had many interests outside work. As a young man he was a keen rugby player who played as a front row forward for Cambridge University and captained Waterloo. He was a keen hiker and a qualified pilot who was still flying aircraft in his seventies.
Professor Clayton died in 2002, but the Clayton prize continues to be awarded to one of the top Economics students graduating each year.
The Knoop Prize
The Knoop Prize was established in 1948 in memory of Douglas Knoop, the University of Sheffield´s first Professor of Economics. Knoop first came to Sheffield as a young man in 1910 when he was appointed as a Lecturer in Economics and head of the newly created Department of Economics. (Previously Economics had been taught in a joint department of Philosophy and Economics.)
At the time the university was still in its infancy and in the Economics department there was just one other member of staff and only a handful of students. By 1920, however, despite the First World War, the department had grown sufficiently to justify the establishment of a Chair of Economics and Knoop became its first holder
He wrote a number of books and papers in the fields of industrial organisation and industrial relations. He also went on to serve as Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1922to 1925 and served the university well in a number of other ways until his retirement in 1948.
Professor Knoop died very soon after retiring, but on his retirement his friends and former students had subscribed to a fund which has been used to finance the Knoop Prize, awarded annually to the most outstanding Economics final year student, as well as fellowships and studentships which over the years have helped to launch a number of distinguished academic careers.
The Gilbert Prize
The Gilbert Prize was established in 1989 to mark the contribution to the University of John Cannon Gilbert. Jack, as he was more generally known, first came to Sheffield as a Senior Lecturer in Economics in 1948 after holding academic posts at the LSE, Dundee and Manchester and also working for a period at the then Ministry of Supply during the Second World War. He became the third head of the Economics department and Professor at Sheffield when he succeeded G.P.Jones, Douglas Knoop´s successor, in 1957.
The department continued to develop under his guidance but he also encouraged the expansion of related social science subjects in the university such as Economic History, Politics, Business Studies and Accounting. These were initially taught within the Economics department but later became separate departments within the Faculty of Economics and Social Studies which was established in 1959 with Jack as its first Dean.
His interests as an economist were more theoretical than his predecessors in the Chair and had a particular focus on macroeconomic theory and monetary economics. He published a number of papers in leading economics journals in these areas, and is perhaps most well-known for a paper which was published in 1953 in the Journal of Political Economy on the demand for money. When he retired in 1973 he continued to work in this area and in 1982 published a book on Keynes. He was also a regular attender and astute contributor to departmental seminars until well into his eighties. He died in 2000 at the age of 92. The Gilbert prize is now awarded to an outstanding Masters student each year.
The Investec Wealth & Investment Prizes
These prizes were established in 2001. Unlike our other prizes, they recognise excellence in a specific area of Economics and are awarded to the best undergraduate students in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Quantitative Subjects and Finance.
The Iona Tarrant Prize
The Iona Tarrant Prize was established in 2010 in memory of Iona who was a lecturer in the department from 2000 until 2008. It will be awarded annually for the best performance in Level One undergraduate economics.
Iona Tarrant joined the Department as a new lecturer in 2000 after completing her PhD at the University of Hull. Her thesis developed the work of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen on welfare and liberty. Her work here overlapped with philosophy. She also worked on the voluntary provision of public goods, with relevance to international agreements on environmental goods. As a lecturer, Iona was heavily involved with the first year, both teaching core first year modules in microeconomics and maths for economists, and acting as undergraduate admissions tutor; hence this prize is awarded for the best performance in Level One undergraduate economics. Sadly she was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and died in 2008, aged just 36.
Department of Economics Prize Winners in Recent Years
| Name | Degree Programme | |
|
2004/5
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| Clayton Prize | Anna Downs | BA Economics and Sociology |
| Gilbert Prize | Emily O'Donnell | MSc Economics |
| Knoop Prize | Stewart Baker | BSc Economics |
| Rensburg Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Adam Gilbert | BA Economics |
| Macroeconomics | Niama El Bassunie | BA Economics and Politics |
| Quantitative | Paul Bath | BSc Economics |
| Finance | Daniel Latham | BSc Economics |
|
2005/6
|
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| Clayton Prize | Jason Lau | BA Economics |
| Gilbert Prize | Ziying Wang | MA Economics and Finance |
| Knoop Prize | Jenny Willson | BSc Economics |
| Rensburg Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Nicola Prendergast | BA Economics |
| Macroeconomics | Penelope Watson | BA Economics and Politics |
| Quantitative | Gareth Dye | BA Economics and Mathematics |
| Finance | Jack Baker Lewis | BA Economics with Econometrics |
|
2006/7
|
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| Clayton Prize - Shared between two students | Carla Longden William Sullivan | BA Economics and Politics BA Economics and Politics |
| Gilbert Prize | Jenny Willson | MSc Economics |
| Knoop Prize | Asher Moses | BSc Economics |
| Rensburg Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Lucy Gibson | BSc Economics and Mathematics |
| Macroeconomics | John Hill | BSc Economics |
| Quantitative | Gavin Thompson | BSc Economics |
| Finance | Andrew Choy | BA Accounting & Financial Management and Economics |
|
2007/8
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| Clayton Prize | Richard Ward | BSc Economics |
| Gilbert Prize | Edward Clifton | MSc Economics and Health Economics |
| Knoop Prize | Samuel Kaye | BA Economics |
| Rensburg Sheppards Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Samuel Kaye | BA Economics |
| Macroeconomics | Jon Hercman | BSc Economics |
| Quantitative | John Gregson | BSc Economics and Mathematics |
| Finance | Daniel Platts | BSc Economics |
| Macroeconomics | James Murray | BA Economics |
| Quantitative | Stephan Schmitt | BSc Economics with Econometrics |
| Finance | Luke Munford | BSc Economics and Mathematics |
|
2008/2009
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| Clayton Prize | Yousif Mohammed | BA Accounting & Financial Management and Economics |
| Gilbert Prize | Lada Kravcenko | MSc International Finance and Economics |
| Knoop Prize | David Barnett | BSc Economics |
| Rensburg Sheppards Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Ieva Sakalauskaite | BA Management and Economics |
| Macroeconomics | James Murray | BA Economics |
| Quantitative | Stephan Schmitt | BSc Economics with Econometrics |
| Finance | Luke Munford | BSc Economics and Mathematics |
|
2009/10
|
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| Clayton Prize | Alexander Rawsthorn | BSc Economics |
| Gilbert Prize | Daniel Gray | MSc Economics |
| Knoop Prize | Karol Skrzyszowski | BSc Economics |
| Rensburg Sheppards Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Sajan Patel | BSc Economics |
| Macroeconomics | Damon Morris | BA Economics |
| Quantitative | Oluwaseun Oladokun | BSc Economics and Mathematics |
| Finance | Paul Scales | BSc Economics |
|
2010/11
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| Clayton Prize | James Glossop | BSc Economics |
| Gilbert Prize | To be announced | |
| Knoop Prize | Beau Flanaghan | BSc Economics |
| Rensburg Sheppards Prizes | ||
| Microeconomics | Ben Cook | BSc Economics |
| Macroeconomics | Neoma Dhingra | BA Accounting & Financial Management and Economics |
| Quantitative | Edward Glossop | BSc Economics |
| Finance | Sophie Bell | BSc Economics |