Early Monday morning, economics and history Prof. Joel Mokyr noticed a missed phone call from a +46 dialing code. That missed call originated from a Swedish number and was meant to inform him that he had won half of the 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
In front of a gaggle of news cameras and photographers, Mokyr spoke about his accomplishment to over 130 members of the Northwestern community Monday afternoon in Cahn Auditorium. Around 500 unique viewers tuned into the livestream of the press conference.
At NU’s celebratory press conference for his achievement, he reflected on his five-decade tenure at NU, discussed the importance of interdisciplinary study and looked ahead to some of humanity’s most pressing challenges.
Mokyr, still digesting the news, said he’s “a little bit dazed.”
He joined NU in 1974 and said he is proud to be a member of the NU economics and history departments because of their commitment to scholarship and intellectual activity.
In his speech, Mokyr cited economic historians Robert Fogel and Douglass North, who both won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1993.
Mokyr said Fogel told him that economists “must deal with economic history.” He said economists can learn from economies that no longer exist, such as formal slave markets and feudalism, in the same way that evolutionary biologists use paleontology to learn about extinct species.
According to Mokyr, North often spoke of technological progress and institutional change, suggesting that institutions are what hold societies back rather than new technologies.
Mokyr wrapped up his speech by presenting what he sees as two of humanity’s biggest challenges: climate change and demographic change.
“History is not a very good guide here, but it’s something that we have to face … even if history itself doesn’t give us an answer,” Mokyr said. “I strongly urge the world to keep putting efforts and money and resources and incentives to the people who are trying to invent us out of these two crises.”
Mokyr also took questions from the press and audience members. In response to a question on artificial intelligence, he said that he is frequently asked about it but does not consider it a threat to humanity.
Mokyr’s remarks drew several sustained rounds of applause from the audience. His speech was preceded by brief comments from University spokesperson Jon Yates, interim President Henry Bienen and Weinberg Dean Adrian Randolph. Each congratulated Mokyr and made statements about his work.
“At Northwestern, we often talk about interdisciplinary work as a cornerstone of our strength, and Professor Mokyr reflects that strength with research that brings together economics, history, science and technology,” Bienen said.
Champagne flute in hand, Randolph led a toast to cap off the event.
History professor and Department Chair Kevin Boyle, who attended the press conference, said Mokyr’s win was “insanely exciting.”
“There are very, very few history departments in the world that have Nobel Prize winners,” Boyle said. “We couldn’t be happier, and we couldn’t be prouder.”
Fourth-year managerial economics and strategy Ph.D. candidate Michael Giordano said he was “so happy” when he saw The New York Times’ article on Mokyr’s win.
Giordano was Mokyr’s research assistant from 2020 to 2022 and now works with him as a graduate student. He said the professor frequently goes out of his way to support students.
Mokyr’s speech was “quintessential Joel,” Giordano said — funny, with “a lot of big words to describe very basic things.”
“You can’t find a more generous or kind person who deserves this, somebody who has reached the pinnacle of his profession while not losing any moral ground,” Giordano said. “I think that’s rare, and exceptional.”
This story has been updated to better reflect the number of attendees.
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