Elinor Ostrom, a professor at Indiana University who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for economics, has died from cancer, the university said. She was 78.
Dr Ostrom received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for research on the ways that people organize themselves to manage resources. She shared the prize with University of California economist Oliver Williamson.
"Indiana University has lost an irreplaceable and magnificent treasure with the passing of Elinor Ostrom," university president Michael McRobbie said in a statement.
"Throughout her lifetime, Lin has brought distinction to the university through her groundbreaking work, which received the ultimate recognition in 2009 when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences."
Dr Ostrom had been an Indiana University faculty member since 1965, the university said.
Born Elinor Awan on August 7th 1933, in Los Angeles, she graduated from Beverly Hills High School and earned her bachelor's, masters and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, Indiana University said. She is survived by her husband Vincent Ostrom.
Reuters