The 2024 Hurwicz Workshop on Mechanism Design Theory is a continuation of the initiative started in 2009 to hold a biennial conference in honour of the 2007 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, a native of Warsaw, Professor Leonid Hurwicz. 

Leonid Hurwicz lived in Warsaw until 1938 and studied at the University of Warsaw. He frequently visited Poland in the 1990s. In 1994, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) by SGH Warsaw School of Economics. A special plaque commemorates his connection with SGH Warsaw School of Economics.  

Hurwicz is often credited with introducing a rigorous mathematical approach to economic analysis. He received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2007 for his fundamental contributions to the theory of economic mechanism design. The theory of mechanism design relies heavily on mathematical methods, including functional analysis, differential equations, differential topology, and dynamical systems. Hurwicz made significant contributions not only to economics but also to mathematics, particularly in the field of nonlinear programming.