Elinor Ostrom

Elinor Ostrom (August 7, 1933-June 12, 2012) was the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and the Senior Research Director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University, Bloomington. In 2009, she received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.”

Dr. Ostrom was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991, and a member of the National Academy of Science in 2001. She was past president of the American Political Science Association and has been the president of the Public Choice Society, the Midwest Political Science Association, and the International Association for the Study of Common Property.

Dr. Ostrom has served on numerous advisory boards including International Association of Chiefs of Police; Law Enforcement Assistance Administration; National Academy of Public Administration; National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, National Sheriffs' Association, National Science Foundation; and Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research Council.

She has been a consultant for various task force committees and has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator of external funded research grants. Dr. Ostrom has served as a member of editorial boards for American Journal of Political Science; American Political Science Review; Criminal Justice Review; Public Productivity Review; Publius; Quarterly Journal of Administration; Sage Urban Affairs Annual Review; Social Science Quarterly; and Urban Affairs Quarterly.

Elinor Ostrom received a PhD in political science from UCLA in 1965. She moved to Indiana University and was chair of the political science department from 1980-84. She was a visiting scholar at the Mercatus Center in 2010. She passed away on June 12, 2012. Read Peter Boettke's memoriam, "Remembering Elinor 'Lin' Ostrom."