He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago, and he served as President and Distinguished Fellow, American Economic Association; President, Western Economic Association; Associate Member of the Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Ministry of Finance, Japan; Arthur Lehman Professor of Economics, Columbia University; President of the Mont Pelerin Society; Member, National Academy of Sciences; Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences; Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and Fellow, National Association of Business Economists.

He was co-author of the Becker-Posner Blog, and his many books include Uncommon Sense (with Richard Posner), Social Economics (with Kevin M. Murphy), The Economics of Life (with Guity Nashat-Becker), The Allocation of Time and Goods Over the Life Cycle (with Gilbert Ghez), Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment (edited with William M. Landes), Accounting for Tastes, A Treatise on the Family, The Economic Approach to Human Behavior, Economic Theory, Human Capital and the Personal Distribution of Income: An Analytical Approach, Human Capital, and The Economics of Discrimination.

Professor Becker was also the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Medal of Science, John Bates Clark Medal, Bradley Prize, Medal of the Italian Presidency, Jacob Mincer Prize, Hayek Award, Heartland Prize, Phoenix Prize, Harold Lasswell Award, Lord Foundation Award, John R. Commons Award, Frank E. Seidman Distinguished Award in Political Economy, Irene B. Taeuber Award for Excellence in Demographic Research, John von Neumann Lecture Award, Provost’s Teaching Award, and Arrow Award for Best Article in Health Economics.