Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, is offering a $200,000 prize to recognize outstanding research or practice in financial policy, courtesy of Robert C. Pozen, a former vice chairman of Fidelity Investments, Boston, and currently a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
The award will be given every two years, with the inaugural presentation coming this spring. Nominations may be made until Feb. 28.
In addition, MIT Sloan will award a two-year fellowship to "a promising MBA student," and the fellowship will bear the name of the prize winner for the two academic years following the award of the prize, an MIT news release said. The fellowship will be worth about $30,000 a year. Mr. Pozen is paying for the fellowship.
"I was trying to keep the criteria broad enough to have a broad range of candidates," Mr. Pozen said in an interview.
The award will focus on financial policy that is practical rather than theoretical, honoring candidates with expertise and accomplishments in fields such as regulation, product development, retirement policy and investment management. A panel of experts will choose the winner.
The Miriam Pozen Prize is offered in honor of Mr. Pozen's late mother. She had a long career as a bookkeeper and accountant in the equipment leasing business. Mr. Pozen said his mother instilled in him and his two brothers a reverence for education and discipline as well as a commitment to public service.
His brothers became cardiologists. However, when medical professionals draw blood for tests, "I can't look," said Mr. Pozen, explaining why he didn't pursue a medical career.
The Miriam Pozen Prize is offered under the auspices of MIT's Golub Center for Finance and Policy.
