The state Senate began its opening session Tuesday by honoring Leonid Hurwicz, the University of Minnesota professor emeritus who won the Nobel Prize in economics last fall.

Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, hailed Hurwicz, 90, for devising an elegant economic theory on how the world works to achieve the best results.

"I had the honor of studying under Dr. Hurwicz many, many years ago," Pogemiller said.

Two other economists -- Eric Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago -- won the award along with Hurwicz.

PAT DOYLE