I congratulate my friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Kremer, for receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics for 2019. As the Gates Professor of Developing Societies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, Michael has devoted his research and career to helping lift people out of poverty throughout the world.

At the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Michael has played several roles, including as Innovation Advisor to the Administrator and Scientific Director of the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) Program. As a founder of DIV, Michael revolutionized innovative approaches to solving humanity's greatest challenges by lowering bureaucratic barriers to encourage anyone to submit innovative ideas to USAID and subjecting those innovations to rigorous analysis of impact, cost-effectiveness, and ability to scale.

Michael's work with the DIV portfolio also has helped drive our work to measure a social rate of return and the quantifiable impact of USAID's programs.

On a personal level, Michael has been a friend for over three decades. I first met him through his work with World Teach, which supported my wife, Sue, and me to teach school in rural Kenya in the late 1980s. It has been a privilege to continue that friendship at USAID, as Michael has contributed to the innovative work of USAID's Global Development Lab to test and scale breakthrough solutions to address poverty through unique and effective mechanisms.

On behalf of all of us at USAID, I congratulate Michael on this well-deserved recognition.