In 1945, Nurkse accepted an appointment at Columbia University in New York City. He was a visiting lecturer at Columbia from 1945 to 1946, was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, from 1946 to 1947, and then returned to Columbia as an Associate Professor of Economics in 1947. In 1949, he was promoted to Full Professor of Economics, a position which he held almost until his death in 1959. Nurkse spent a sabbatical (1954–1955) at the Nuffield College of the University of Oxford, and in 1958–1959, another one studying economic development in the University of Geneva, and lecturing around the world.