Reinhard Selten
Reinhard Selten received the 1994 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
- Reinhard Selten [1]
- Full name
- Reinhard Selten [2]
- Birth date
- 1930-10-05 [2]
- Birthplace
- Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) [2]
- Education
- Goethe University Frankfurt [3]
- Fields / occupation
- political economist; mathematician; economist; university teacher; Esperantist [3]
- Prize
- Economic Sciences · 1994 [2]
- Research recognized
- for their pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games [2]
- Prize share
- 1/3 [2]
- Affiliation at the award
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität [2]
- Death date
- 2016-08-23 [2]
- Institutions in career record
- University of California, Berkeley (1967–1968); Goethe University Frankfurt (1957–1967); Bielefeld University (1972–1985); University of Bonn (1985–2000); Freie Universität Berlin (1969–1972) [3]
Research, education and career background
Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten (German: [ˈʁaɪnhaʁt ˈzɛltn̩] ; 5 October 1930 – 23 August 2016) was a German economist, who won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with John Harsanyi and John Nash). He is also well known for his work in bounded rationality and can be considered one of the founding fathers of experimental economics. [4]
Selected introductory text by Wikipedia contributors — Reinhard Selten, 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 1994 and lists Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität 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
Birth date recorded in the official Nobel biography. [2]
Education period at Goethe University Frankfurt began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Goethe University Frankfurt began (background record). [3]
Education period at Goethe University Frankfurt ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at University of California, Berkeley began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Goethe University Frankfurt ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at University of California, Berkeley ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Freie Universität Berlin began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Bielefeld University began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Freie Universität Berlin ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Bielefeld University ended (background record). [3]
Economic Sciences award announced. [2]
Death date recorded in the official Nobel biography. [2]
Source-supported connections
Frequently asked questions
When did Reinhard Selten receive the prize in Economic Sciences?
The official award record gives the year as 1994. [2]
Which institution was Reinhard Selten affiliated with at the time of the Economic Sciences award?
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität. This is the award-time affiliation. [2]
Reinhard Selten 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 — Reinhard Selten (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.