A Noble Acquisition

1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Finds Permanent Home in Special Collections & Archives

How often do you get to meet a Nobel Laureate and see a Nobel Prize medal up close? A small group of academics, Library supporters and university staff got the rare opportunity to mingle with Nobel Prize-winning economist Harry Markowitz and see his gold medal in person at an intimate ceremony in Geisel Library in November.

The medal was gifted by Markowitz to the Rady School of Management in 2016 — where he is an adjunct professor — and placed in the Library’s Special Collections & Archives at the ceremony in 2018. The 91-year-old faculty member received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1990 from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for his pioneering work in the theory of financial economics. He was one of the first academics to identify the benefits of adding additional assets to a portfolio and introduced the idea of diversification. His work in understanding risk and how it applies to stock markets was seminal in the development of what became modern portfolio theory.

During the ceremony, the gleaming Nobel Prize medal was situated under a glass display next to a copy of Markowitz’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Markowitz revealed his decision to donate the medal now rather than leaving it as a legacy gift was influenced by his love for the campus and the joy he gets out of teaching at the Rady School. Being a fan of Dr. Seuss, Markowitz said he was honored that his medal would join the Library’s distinguished collections that contain the archives of some of the world’s most prominent scientists and authors, including the Dr. Seuss Collection.

“I teach two quarters a year and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to impact young minds,” Markowitz said with a warm smile. “I’m delighted that my legacy will endure not only at the Rady School, but also at the Library.”

Markowitz’s gift joins two other Nobel Laureates, Maria Goeppert Mayer — who was the second woman in history to win the Nobel Prize in physics — and famed chemist Harold Clayton Urey.

“We’re honored and proud to be the home of your medal,” University Librarian Erik Mitchell told Markowitz during the ceremony at Geisel. “The university is very fortunate to have you — one of the world’s most renowned financial economists — on our faculty, and your unceasing efforts to impact young minds serves as an inspiration to many.”

Markowitz earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Chicago in the 1950s. While conducting research for his dissertation, he developed an interest in applying mathematical methods to the stock market. The basic concept of portfolio theory came to him during an afternoon at the library while reading John Burr Williams’ “Theory of Investment Value.” This finding would earn him the Nobel Prize in 1990.

NOBEL TRADITION

UC San Diego has a long tradition of Nobel Prize winners — 16 laureates have taught on our campus over the years, while two alumni, Dr. Bruce Beutler and Dr. Susumu Tonegawa, are recipients of the coveted prize. Collectively, UC San Diego’s Nobel Prize winners have made positive advancements and discoveries spanning a wide range of disciplines, from physics and chemistry to economics and medicine.

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