Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, will speak in the Burkett Miller Distinguished Guest Lecture Series on Wednesday, November 17, at 12 noon in the UTC University Center Auditorium. Dr. Ostrom will discuss “The Challenge of Self-Governance in Complex Contemporary Environments.”
Ostrom earned the Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA in 1965 and is currently Senior Research Director at Indiana University where she has directed the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis since 1973. She is also the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity at Arizona State University.
Ostrom is both the first woman and first Political Scientist to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, which she received “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” She has received seven honorary doctorates and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in 2003.
Her research is extensively published in numerous articles and in more than 25 books, including The Samaritan’s Dilemma: The Political Economy of Development Aid, Linking the Formal and Informal Economy: Concepts and Policies, and her most recent work, Working Together: Collective Action, the Commons, and Multiple Methods in Practice.
Dr. Benjamin Powell will critique Dr. Ostrom’s presentation. Powell is a professor of economics at Suffolk University, a senior economist with the Beacon Hill Institute, and a research fellow with the Independent Institute. He earned the Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
His primary fields of research are economic development, Austrian economics, public choice, and housing economics. Powell’s research findings have been reported in popular press outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Sponsored by the Scott L. Probasco, Jr. Chair of Free Enterprise and the UTC Department of Political Science, this event is free and open to the public; however, seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on the speaker and speech, contact the Probasco Chair at 423-425-4118.
