Campus News

2009 Nobel prize winner in economic sciences to lecture

2009 Nobel prize winner in economic sciences to lecture

Elinor Ostrom, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, will speak at the department of political science’s annual Parthemos Lecture on March 19. Her lecture, entitled “What Can We Do About Climate Change?,” is open free to the public. It will be held in the Chapel at 10:30 a.m.

On Oct.12, Ostrom became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which she shares with Oliver E. Williamson. Ostrom currently is the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University-Bloomington. She also is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity at Arizona State University.

“We are thrilled and honored that Professor Ostrom will be the 2010 Parthemos Scholar,” said John A. Maltese, head of the department of political science in the School of Public and International Affairs.

“Since winning the Nobel Prize, Professor Ostrom has been overwhelmed with requests for interviews and personal appearances—750 of which arrived on the day the prize was announced,” he added. “Therefore, it is a particular honor that she has chosen to spend a day with us, teaching an undergraduate class and giving a public lecture.”

Ostrom is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and past president of the American Political Science Association. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science and the James Madison Award for distinguished scholarly contributions in political science.

She is considered one of the leading scholars in the study of common pool resources. Ostrom’s work has demonstrated how common resources, such as forests, fisheries, oil fields or grazing lands, can be managed successfully by the people who use them, rather than by governments or private companies.

The lecture series honors the late George S. Parthemos, who served UGA for 31 years. A professor of political science, Parthemos spent eight years as UGA’s vice president for academic affairs, championing innovations such as the Honors Program and the campus bus system. Parthemos believed that UGA students should have the opportunity to hear from the most prominent political scientists in the nation—the Parthemos Lecture honors that tradition.