Schools that are strong in Theory?

[apropos]

There are some exceptions among lower ranked programs. Penn State seems good in theory according to its placements and what its job market people work on. (given Penn State's placement record, I can see that its rankings don't reflect the quality of this program well). Rice University, UC Irvine, USC, and Purdue have some good theorists working in very specific subject areas. However, overall, mostly top 25 or so departments tend to have good theorists and the placements of job candidates who work in theory seem to reflect that. One Purdue student who works in theoretical I/O told me that the consensus is that if you're working in theory you can get either a really good placement (e.g. a top 20 program) or a really bad one, and there are very few employment opportunities in between those extremes.

[CreativeDestruction]

SUNY Stony Brook has a summer game theory conference.