Elinor Ostrom
Elinor Ostrom received the 2009 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
- Elinor Ostrom [1]
- Full name
- Elinor Ostrom [2]
- Birth date
- 1933-08-07 [2]
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, CA, USA [2]
- Education
- Beverly Hills High School; University of California, Los Angeles [3]
- Fields / occupation
- economist; university teacher; political scientist [3]
- Prize
- Economic Sciences · 2009 [2]
- Research recognized
- for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons [2]
- Prize share
- 1/2 [2]
- Affiliation at the award
- Indiana University, Arizona State University [2]
- Death date
- 2012-06-12 [2]
- Institutions in career record
- University of California, Los Angeles (1957–1961); Indiana University (1965–2012); Cabot Corporation (1955–1957); Arizona State University (2006–2012) [3]
Research, education and career background
Elinor Claire "Lin" Ostrom (née Awan; August 7, 1933 – June 12, 2012) was an American political scientist and political economist whose work was associated with New Institutional Economics and the resurgence of political economy. In 2009, she was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for her "analysis of economic governance, especially the commons", which she shared with Oliver E. Williamson; she was the first woman to win the prize. [4]
Trained in political science at UCLA, Ostrom was a faculty member at Indiana University Bloomington for 47 years. Beginning in the 1960s, Ostrom was involved in resource management policy and created a research center, the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, which attracted scientists from different disciplines from around the world. Working and teaching at her center was created on the principle of a workshop, rather than a university with lectures and a strict hierarchy. Late in her career, she held an affiliation with Arizona State University. [4]
Ostrom studied the interaction of people and ecosystems for many years and showed that the use of exhaustible resources by groups of people (communities, cooperatives, trusts, trade unions) can be rational and prevent depletion of the resource without either state intervention or markets with private property. [4]
Selected introductory text by Wikipedia contributors — Elinor Ostrom, 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 2009 and lists Indiana University, Arizona State 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
Birth date recorded in the official Nobel biography. [2]
Affiliation at Cabot Corporation began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at University of California, Los Angeles began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Cabot Corporation ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at University of California, Los Angeles ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Indiana University began (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Arizona State University began (background record). [3]
Economic Sciences award announced. [2]
Affiliation at Indiana University ended (background record). [3]
Affiliation at Arizona State University ended (background record). [3]
Death date recorded in the official Nobel biography. [2]
Source-supported connections
Frequently asked questions
When did Elinor Ostrom receive the prize in Economic Sciences?
The official award record gives the year as 2009. [2]
Which institution was Elinor Ostrom affiliated with at the time of the Economic Sciences award?
Indiana University, Arizona State University. This is the award-time affiliation. [2]
Elinor Ostrom 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 — Elinor Ostrom (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.