Robert W. Rosenthal (1945 – February 7, 2002) was an American economist, most known for his contributions to game theory. He obtained a B.A. in political economy from Johns Hopkins University (1966),M.S. (1968) andPh.D. (1971) in operations research from Stanford University,advised by Robert B. Wilson.He worked as assistant professor in the department of Industrial Engineering andmanagement science atNorthwestern University (1970–76), was member of the technical staff atBell Labs (1976–83),was professor of economics atVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1983–84),State University of New York at Stony Brook (1984–87) andBoston University where he worked (1987–2002) until his death from a heart attack. He alsohad appointments with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2000),