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Judd Kessler

Judd Kessler Profile Photo

Author, Lucky By Design

Judd B. Kessler is the inaugural Howard Marks Endowed Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In 2021, Kessler was awarded the prestigious Vernon L. Smith Ascending Scholar Prize for his path breaking scholarship. For his work on the hidden market of organ allocation, Kessler was named one of the “30 under 30” in Law and Policy by Forbes. He is an award-winning teacher whose courses are popular among undergraduates, MBAs, PhD students, and executives, as well as a sought-after speaker. His research and writing have been featured in leading media, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Scientific American, Harvard Business Review, Politico, NPR, Hidden Brain, and Freakonomics, among others. He received a bachelor’s degree, MA, and PhD from Harvard University and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. At Harvard, Kessler trained with Nobel laureate Alvin E. Roth, one of the founders of market design, the area in which he has been conducting research for the past fifteen years.

Oct. 14, 2025

How To Be Lucky (By Design)

Episode 80: Lucky By Design – Show Notes Is luck really just random, or can we engineer it? In this episode, we explore how “luck” is often the result of preparation, pattern recognition, and a deep understanding of hidden sy...
Guest: Judd Kessler