Fifteen years ago, on October 9, 2009, our colleague, the late Elinor Ostrom (1934-2012), became the first female scholar to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. Her work remains an inspiration to many of us and an invitation to build upon it. Fifteen years later, we remember her honor her legacy of academic excellence and collaboration.
Elinor Ostrom was senior research director of the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Distinguished Professor and Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences, and professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
Ostrom received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for her groundbreaking research demonstrating that ordinary people are capable of creating rules and institutions that allow for the sustainable and equitable management of shared resources. She shared the prize with Oliver Williamson, a University of California economist.
The recipient of numerous international awards and honorary degrees, Ostrom was selected in April as one of the Time 100 for 2012, Time magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people. In May, the IU Board of Trustees renamed the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis to honor Elinor Ostrom and her husband and colleague, Vincent Ostrom, who founded the center in 1973.
Learn more here with this documentary about her work and life along with Vincent Ostrom produced by Barbara Allen, one of their students and an IU graduate alumna.
The College of Arts