Leonid Hurwicz was born in 1917 in Moscow and died in 2008 in Minnesota. He was affiliated with the University of Minnesota and laid the foundations for mechanism design theory, formulating a framework for analyzing institutions that implement collective decision making. The document also provides biographical and contribution information for Ragnar Frisch and Vernon L. Smith, recognizing their pioneering work in econometric modeling, economic processes, and using laboratory experiments as a tool for economic analysis.