Sir Arthur Lewis
Sir Arthur Lewis received the 1979 prize in Economic Sciences. This profile brings together the official award record and attributed background on the economist’s work and career.
Personal and professional profile
- Name
- Sir Arthur Lewis [1]
- Full name
- Sir Arthur Lewis [2]
- Birth date
- 1915-01-23 [2]
- Birthplace
- Castries, British West Indies (now Saint Lucia) [2]
- Education
- London School of Economics and Political Science [3]
- Fields / occupation
- economist; researcher; university teacher [3]
- Prize
- Economic Sciences · 1979 [2]
- Research recognized
- for their pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries [2]
- Prize share
- 1/2 [2]
- Affiliation at the award
- Princeton University [2]
- Death date
- 1991-06-15 [2]
- Institutions in career record
- Princeton University; Victoria University of Manchester [3]
Research, education and career background
Sir William Arthur Lewis (23 January 1915 – 15 June 1991) was a Saint Lucian economist and the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton University. Lewis remains the only black person to have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. [4]
W. Arthur Lewis was a pioneering development economist, especially famous for his “dual-sector model” of economic development. In his 1954 paper “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour,” he described a poor country as having two sectors: a traditional (largely agricultural) sector with surplus labor, and a modern capitalist sector. Lewis showed how surplus labor could be transferred from the traditional sector into the capitalist sector, fueling industrial growth. [4]
Selected introductory text by Wikipedia contributors — W. Arthur Lewis, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Official facts are cited separately.
Award and academic affiliation
The official Nobel record dates the Economic Sciences award to 1979 and lists Princeton University as the affiliation at the time. [2]
An affiliation attached to an award describes that point in the person’s career; it does not establish a current appointment. [2]
Education and career timeline
Source-supported connections
Frequently asked questions
When did Sir Arthur Lewis receive the prize in Economic Sciences?
The official award record gives the year as 1979. [2]
Which institution was Sir Arthur Lewis affiliated with at the time of the Economic Sciences award?
Princeton University. This is the award-time affiliation. [2]
Sir Arthur Lewis connection map
Select a node to inspect the relationship and source.
Links retain their source-specific meaning. Award-time affiliations and links to related reading are not claims about current appointments or economic causation.
Sources and review dates
- Nobel Prize — official biography and award record ↗
- Nobel Prize — official biography and award record ↗
- Wikidata background facts (CC0) ↗
- Wikipedia contributors — W. Arthur Lewis (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗
Reviewed 23 October 2026. Historical dates and award-time affiliations retain their original context. A review date is not an event date. Background sources are identified separately from official records.