On December 10, 2009, political scientist Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Her research focused on economic governance and “the commons” (natural resources accessible to all). She studied the relationship between people and their ecosystems, to prove that finite resources can be used by local communities in ways that prevent their depletion. 

Elinor Ostrom was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 7, 1933, to a Protestant mother and Jewish father. She came from a low-income background, at a time when the country was recovering from the Great Depression. To pay for her BA in political science from UCLA, which she received with honors, she saved the money she earned from swimming competitively in high school. Although none of her family had attended college and her mother disapproved of the idea, she graduated from UCLA in just three years. 

When Ostrom graduated from college, employers were hesitant to hire a woman beyond the position of a secretary. After working in a low-level managerial position at a firm that had never previously hired a woman for that role, she decided to pursue a PhD in political science at UCLA. She received her MA in 1962 and her PhD in 1965. 

Ostrom’s research career focused on communities’ interactions with natural resources, grappling with humanity’s exploitation of natural resources. Her findings and field work offer a sustainable solution by highlighting examples of how small-scale farms, fisheries, and more around the world jointly manage and care for their resources to achieve a balance with nature. 

In 1974, Ostrom became a Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington; she became a Distinguished Professor in 2010 in association with the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She was also the founder and first-ever president of the International Association for the Study of the Commons, a non-profit dedicated to the study of resource management around the world. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Ostrom received  the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science in 1999 and was named to Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2012. 

When she passed away on June 12, 2012, Ostrom left behind a legacy for all aspiring female scientists and carved an important path towards a brighter future. 

Sources: 

“The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009.” The Nobel Prize. Accessed March 27, 2025. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/ostrom/facts/ 

Anderies, John M, and Marco A Janssen. “Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012): Pioneer in the Interdisciplinary Science of Coupled Social-Ecological Systems.” PLoS Biology, October 16, 2012. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3473022/ 

“Elinor Ostrom.” The Economist, June 30, 2012. https://www.economist.com/obituary/2012/06/30/elinor-ostrom