The first, but not the last...

76-Year-Old Is First Woman to Win Nobel Prize for Economics

Tuesday 13 October 2009

by: David Usborne and Sean O'Grady | The Independent UK

Professor Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics. (Photo: Adam P Schweigert / WFIU, wfiupublicradio / flickr)

Elinor Ostrom's award takes number of female laureates in 2009 to five.

The grip enjoyed by men on the Nobel Prize for Economics was broken at last yesterday when Elinor Ostrom, a professor at the University of Indiana, became the first woman to be honoured with the award.

Her win ensured that 2009 was a record-breaking Nobel year for women, with five female winners.

Professor Ostrom, 76, shares her prize with with a fellow American academic, Oliver Williamson, also 76, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. Both professors specialise in economic governance and the deployment of authority to resolve conflicts.

To read more about Elinor Ostrom and the prize she hopes will direct more attention to other women working in the field of economics, click here.