Jeffrey Hicks (supplied image)
Jeffrey Hicks awarded Polanyi Prize in Economic Science
Published: March 10, 2026
Jeffrey Hicks, an assistant professor in the department of management at the University of Toronto Scarborough who is cross-appointed to the Rotman School of Management, has received the 2025 Polanyi Prize in Economic Science.
The Polanyi Prizes are among Ontario’s most distinguished early-career research awards. Presented annually to up to five outstanding researchers at Ontario universities, the $25,000 prizes honour U of T University Professor emeritus John Charles Polanyi, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Hicks’s research examines the causes and consequences of homelessness and housing insecurity in Canada. In partnership with the Government of British Columbia, he has helped develop one of the country’s most comprehensive datasets on homelessness, linking housing and shelter records with data on health care, social services, foster care, justice and employment.
“Jeffrey’s research tackles one of the most urgent social challenges of our time with remarkable rigour, and we are delighted to see it recognized with the 2025 Polanyi Prize,” said April Franco, chair of the department of management at U of T Scarborough. “His work is expanding the evidence policymakers depend on and his contributions are already shaping how we think about housing insecurity in Canada. We are fortunate to have Jeff as part of our management community.”
