Feature: Prof. Joel Mokyr wins the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
Feature: Prof. Joel Mokyr wins the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
On Monday, October 13, 2025, economic historian Prof. Joel Mokyr was awarded the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He is among three winners of the 2025 prize, of which he received half. The other half went to Philippe Aghion of Collège de France and Peter Howitt of Brown University. Howitt received his PhD in Economics from Northwestern in 1973. Collectively, their research was recognized "for having explained innovation-driven economic growth."
Mokyr has been with the Department of Economics since 1974. He specializes in European economic history and is interested in technological progress and economic growth. His share of the prize was awarded "for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress." As Mokyr describes it, “I use history to understand economics and economics to understand history.”
We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous achievement with him. The Department "is proud to be the institution where Joel Mokyr has spent over 50 years advancing the very Enlightenment ideals he studies," said Department Chair Jeffrey Ely.
Mokyr reads a message from a Former student
"Crazy as it sounds, your Nobel Prize-winning academic career will be only your second-most important legacy. The first is us: dozens and dozens of students whose minds you have shaped."
Mokyr begins his 52nd year teaching in the Department this year. He continues to advise PhD students in economic history and teaches undergraduate courses.
Mokyr on the day of the prize announcement
More about Mokyr
Northwestern's Nobel Laureate
Northwestern University
"The professor of economics and history was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in recognition of his groundbreaking theory on sustained economic growth, emphasizing the roles of useful knowledge, mechanical competence, and supportive institutions."
Tributes for Nobel Laureate Joel Mokyr: A ‘remarkable scholar, teacher and human’
Northwestern Now
Adrian Randolph (qtd.): “Joel reminds us that cultural commitment to tolerance, to academic freedom, and to internationalism are the preconditions for our economy. These values, upheld within institutions like our university, which depend on pluralism and rationality, are the building blocks for many of the advances that stream through successful markets and societies. These values are worth underscoring as we celebrate our colleague and friend.”
Fueled by curiosity, Nobel laureate Joel Mokyr fashions a life-long case for human progress
The Daily Northwestern
"By almost all measures, human life has never been better, and the modern world is proof of how far ingenuity can take us, Mokyr said. It’s an idea he has spent much of his career exploring."
