BY SHOSHANA GROSSBARD In 2004, the Society of Labor Economists announced its ?rst Award for Lifetime Achievement in Labor Economics. Jacob Mincer and Gary Becker were the - recipients. The award was then renamed the Jacob Mincer Award. Two years earlier, Mincer was the ?rst to win the IZA Award in Labor Economics. These awards recognize Mincers primary role in shaping labor economics, but they only hint at the breadth of his reputation and accomplishments: he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and has been appointed a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Econometric Society, as well as a distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association. Mincer is one of the principal architects of Modern Labor Economics (MLE), a premier application of micro-economics in the spirit of Chicagos positive e- nomics. There are typically three steps to such application: (1) a theoretical model is developed or borrowed, leading to testable implications; (2) empirical work is p- formed; and (3) the ?ndings are analyzed in light of the theoretical analysis. All of Mincers work has followed those steps, even when this was a rare occurrence. When he started, in the mid 1950s, labor economics was a sub-?eld of institutional e- nomics. Labor economics is now a major ?eld of economics. As a result of his work and that of other pioneers, MLE became an example for other applications of e- nomic models.

Jacob Mincer in Perspective.- Some Brief Remarks on the Life and Work of Jacob Mincer.- An Interview with Jacob Mincer.- Acceptance Speech Upon Receiving the First Iza Prize November 24th 2002 in New York.- Columbias Labor Workshop in the 1960s.- Working with Jacob Mincer: Reminiscences of Columbias Labor Workshop.- Labor Economics Mincer-Style: A Personal Reflection.- Remarks Following the Final Session of the Conference in his Honor, Held at Columbia University on July 15, 2002.- The New Home Economics at Columbia and Chicago.- Jacob Mincer on Technology.- Technology and the Labor Market.- Jacob Mincer and Human Capital: New Perspectives.- Proving Mincer Right: Mincers Overtaking Point and the Lifecycle Earnings Distribution.- Jacob Mincer, Experience and the Distribution of Earnings.- The Mincer Equation Thirty Years After Schooling, Experience, and Earnings.- Mincer and the New Home Economics.- Jacob Mincer and Labor Supply Before and Aftermath.- Household Production and Health.- Household Production and Children.