Nobel Prize Laureate Economist. A political scientist, she was honored in 2009 for her "analysis of economic governance, especially the commons", essentially the study of how societies organize and collaborate to manage jointly held resources without the need for governmental regulation. Born Elinor Claire Awan, she was raised in Southern California by a family of modest means, graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1951, and earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from UCLA, her 1965 doctoral dissertation being a field study of how Indonesian fishermen allocate a finite supply. Upon receiving her Ph.D. she accepted a faculty position at Indiana University that she was to hold for the rest of her life. In 1973 she joined with her husband in founding the Workshop in Political Theory and Political Analysis and over the years continued teaching at both Indiana University and Arizona State University while authoring numerous books and scholarly papers, her position that societies could and would self-regulate without governmental control cutting across the usual political lines and often placing her at odds with the academic community. A member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, she received numerous awards in her field then in 2009 shared the Nobel Prize with Oliver Williamson of Cal Berkeley making her the first woman, though not the first non-economist, to be so honored. Diagnosed with pancreatic carcinoma in late 2011, Dr. Ostrom continued working as long as she was able.
Nobel Prize Laureate Economist. A political scientist, she was honored in 2009 for her "analysis of economic governance, especially the commons", essentially the study of how societies organize and collaborate to manage jointly held resources without the need for governmental regulation. Born Elinor Claire Awan, she was raised in Southern California by a family of modest means, graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1951, and earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from UCLA, her 1965 doctoral dissertation being a field study of how Indonesian fishermen allocate a finite supply. Upon receiving her Ph.D. she accepted a faculty position at Indiana University that she was to hold for the rest of her life. In 1973 she joined with her husband in founding the Workshop in Political Theory and Political Analysis and over the years continued teaching at both Indiana University and Arizona State University while authoring numerous books and scholarly papers, her position that societies could and would self-regulate without governmental control cutting across the usual political lines and often placing her at odds with the academic community. A member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, she received numerous awards in her field then in 2009 shared the Nobel Prize with Oliver Williamson of Cal Berkeley making her the first woman, though not the first non-economist, to be so honored. Diagnosed with pancreatic carcinoma in late 2011, Dr. Ostrom continued working as long as she was able.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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