Claudia Goldin
The National Institute of Social Sciences is delighted to announce Claudia Goldin, Nobel Prize-winning labor economist at Harvard University, as one of the 2025 Honorees for its Gold Honor Medal for distinguished service to society and humanity.
The National Institute will celebrate Professor Goldin and the other Honorees at the 111th Annual Gold Medal Gala, which will be held in person in New York City on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. We hope you will be able to join us to honor Ms Goldin and our other extraordinary Honorees and their accomplishments.
Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics and the Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of the Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. She was the director of the NBER’s Development of the American Economy program from 1989 to 2017 and is co-director of the NBER’s Gender in the Economy group. Her research interprets the present through the lens of the past and explores the origins of issues of current concern including the gender gap in earnings, economic inequality, educational change, and the rise of the female labor force. She was awarded the 2023 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
She is the author and editor of several books, among them Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women (1990), The Race between Education and Technology (2008), and Career & Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity (2021).
Goldin was the president of the American Economic Association in 2013 and of the Economic History Association in 2000. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and is a fellow of various professional societies. She was recently awarded the University of Chicago Alumni Medal, recognizing exceptional achievement in any field. She received the Nemmers Prize (2020), the BBVA Frontiers in Knowledge Award (2019), and the IZA Prize in Labor Economics (2016). She was editor of the Journal of Economic History from 1984 to 1988. Goldin received her B.A. from Cornell University and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She is an outdoor enthusiast, a birdwatcher, and trained Pika, her Golden Retriever, to several performance scenting titles.
Previous Gold Medal Honorees, 1913-2024
About the National Institute of Social Sciences
Established in 1912, the National Institute of Social Sciences is a voluntary association of public-spirited citizens who explore issues of urgent and lasting concern. One of the nation’s oldest honorary societies, the National Institute sponsors speeches, discussions, and events that encourage balanced, non-partisan debate and discussion; celebrates distinguished Americans and world leaders who have contributed at the highest level to the welfare and improvement of society; and provides financial support to emerging scholars who are conducting research in the social sciences.