Robert A. Margo is Professor of Economics at Boston University and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1982. Prior to joining the faculty at Boston University, he held positions at the University of Pennsylvania, as the Banfi Vintners’ Distinguished Professorship in American Economic History at Colgate University, and Vanderbilt. He has held visiting positions at Harvard, Bard College, and the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City.
A specialist in the history of the American economy with particular emphasis on the economic history of African-Americans, Margo is the author, co-author, or co-editor of six books and more than 160 articles, book chapters and book reviews. He has served on the editorial boards of many journals, including the Journal of Economic History, the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. He previously served as editor or co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and Explorations in Economic History.
Margo is a past president of the Economic History Association, a Fellow of the Cliometric Society and a Fellow of the Economic History Association. In 2018 he received the Provost’s Scholar-Teacher of the Year Award, one of Boston University’s highest honors.
Outside of academia, he is an accomplished performer on mandolin, classical guitar, renaissance and baroque lutes. He gives concerts as a solo artist and performs regularly as a member of both the Hampton Trio and the New American Mandolin Ensemble.