Ceremony for the Conferment of the Sigillum Magnum upon Joel Mokyr

Joel Mokyr was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Haifa, Israel. He graduated in Economics and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before continuing his studies at Yale University, where he earned a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and a Ph.D. in Economics.

He is currently the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Economics and History at Northwestern University. Throughout his distinguished academic career, he has held a number of prestigious appointments and has been elected to several leading scholarly academies, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Professor Mokyr's research focuses on economic history, technological innovation, and the origins of modern economic growth. His work explores the role of knowledge, scientific progress, institutions, and culture in long-term economic development, with particular emphasis on the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the knowledge economy.

Through an extensive analysis of historical sources, Professor Mokyr has demonstrated that technological progress is not the result of isolated inventions but of a cumulative process driven by the creation and diffusion of knowledge, scientific understanding, and societies that encourage the free exchange of ideas and innovation. His research has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of the Industrial Revolution, highlighting the interaction between theoretical knowledge and practical expertise as one of the principal drivers of sustained economic growth.

The author of numerous internationally acclaimed publications, including The Lever of Riches, The Gifts of Athena, The Enlightened Economy, and A Culture of Growth, Professor Mokyr is widely regarded as one of the world's leading scholars in economic history and the study of technological innovation.

In 2015, he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Economic History. In 2025, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for "having explained the preconditions for sustained growth through technological progress".

By conferring the Sigillum Magnum upon Professor Mokyr, the University pays tribute to a scholar whose rigorous and interdisciplinary research has made a profound contribution to our understanding of the historical, economic, and cultural forces that have shaped the development of modern societies.

The ceremony will be held in English; no Italian translation will be provided.

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The ceremony will also be streamed live on the University’s You Tube channel