The .Plan

What does it take to achieve excellence?

Susan Athey is the first woman to win the John Bates Clark Medal (awarded not every year, like the Nobel Prize, but rather only once every other year — to the best economist under 40 in the United States).

Here is a description of her dedication to her craft:

I am going to recount one story about Susan’s work habits. Last year, she was expecting her second child. I got a call that must have been late at night her time. She was trying to complete a few minor things on a project she and I were involved in on timber auctions in Australia. After a few minutes I asked, “So, you must be due soon; how is it going?” Well, apparently, it was going slowly. Susan was clearing her to-do list from the delivery room! We chatted for a while, and for the next hour emails continued to come in. The baby was born soon after.
–Joshua Gans, “Knowledge Network”, Stanford Business Magazine, August 2007

(Hat tip to The .Plan.)