Alumna wins Nobel Prize

Published Oct 12, 2009 12:15 PM

Elinor Ostrom, photo courtesy of Indiana University

Elinor Ostrom, the first female recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has three degrees from UCLA: B.A. 1954, M.A. 1962 and Ph.D. 1965. All three degrees are in political science.

Ostrom's dissertation, "Public entrepreneurship: a case study in ground water basin management," is one of many case studies she has made of group-run economic governance. Her work shows that the "tragedy of the commons" - the economic dilemma that arises when individuals destroy a shared, limited resource - is not inevitable.

Read the UCLA Newsroom story