Aggey Simons (Semenov), Агей (Аггей) Семенов

      I am Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa. My research lies at the intersection of theory of incentives, mechanism design, mathematical economics, and Indigenous economics.

A short bio:

I was born in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),  in the Far East on the Asian continent. This region is known for its cold winters, where temperatures plummet to as low as –60°C (-76°F), and children attend school until -55°C (see here a nice story about kids going to school in winter in Oymyakon). 

My family belongs to the indigenous Siberian community. I started my early education at a boarding school affiliated with Yakut State University, an institution dedicated to preparing mostly indigenous students for university studies in physics and mathematics. This school was founded by Ismail Aliev, who was very important in my academic journey. 

I continued my mathematical education at Novosibirsk State University, specializing in non-associative algebra, my advisor was Ivan Shestakov. Here is my bachelor's thesis on automorphisms of Jordan algebras. 

My transition to economics led me to the University of Toulouse, France (now the Toulouse School of Economics), where I defended my doctoral thesis in economics in 2005, focusing on contract theory. The Toulouse School of Economics, founded by Jean-Jacques Laffont and Jean Tirole, provided an ideal environment for my research. My advisor there was David Martimort.

 After graduation I got a permanent academic position at the National University of Singapore. This place offered a rich and stimulating scholarly environment. In 2010, I moved to Ottawa, where I introduced two courses in Indigenous Economics. The first course is designed for first-year economics students, introducing them to the principles of Indigenous Economics. The second course, aimed at fourth-year students, delves deeper into the subject, exploring its complexities and nuances. These courses reflect my commitment to integrating my heritage and academic expertise to enrich the field of economics.

Address: Economics Department, University of Ottawa

120, University private (9039)

Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 Canada

E-mail: Aggey.Simons@uottawa.ca 

Tel: 1-613-562-5800 ext 7066

Web: https://sites.google.com/site/semenovaggey/home