Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief (Russian:Васи́лий Васи́льевич Лео́нтьев; August 5, 1906 – February 5, 1999), was an American economist of Russian-Jewish descent notable for his research on how changes in one economic sector may have an effect on other sectors. Leontief won the Nobel Committee's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1973, and three of his doctoral students have also been awarded the prize (Paul Samuelson 1970, Robert Solow 1987, Vernon L. Smith 2002).