Esther Duflo (born October 25, 1972) is a French economist, Co-Founder and Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Duflo is an NBER Research Associate,serves on the board of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD),and is Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research's development economics program.In 2015 she received the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences.