Emma Rothschild - Economic Historian

Emma Rothschild (born 16 May 1948) is a distinguished British economic historian. She is a professor of History and director of the Joint Centre for History and Economics at Harvard University; and an honorary Professor of History and Economics at the University of Cambridge. She formerly served as board member of United Nations Foundation and as a professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris.

Emma Georgina Rothschild CMG (born 16 May 1948) is a British economic historian who is a professor of History at Harvard University. She is also the director of the Joint Centre for History and Economics at Harvard University and an honorary Professor of History and Economics at the University of Cambridge. She formerly served as board member of United Nations Foundation and as a professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris.

She is a member of the Rothschild banking family of England and is a trustee of the Rothschild Archive, the international centre in London for research into the history of the Rothschild family.

Early life and education

Rothschild was born in London, England, the daughter of Victor Rothschild (1910–1990) and his second wife, Teresa Georgina Rothschild (née Mayor; 1915–1996). On her father's side, she descends from the Rothschild family. Her maternal grandfather, Robert John Grote Mayor, was the brother of English novelist F. M. Mayor and a greatnephew of philosopher and clergyman John Grote. Her maternal grandmother, Katherine Beatrice Meinertzhagen, was the sister of soldier Richard Meinertzhagen and the niece of author Beatrice Webb. She is the sister of Amschel Mayor James Rothschild and the half-sister of Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild. At the age of 15, she became the youngest woman ever admitted to Somerville College, Oxford University, from which she graduated with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1967. She was a Kennedy Scholar in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Professorships

From 1978 to 1988, she was an associate professor at MIT in the Department of Humanities and the Program on Science, Technology, and Society and also taught at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France. She then was a Fellow at King's College, Cambridge, and continues to be an honorary Professor of History and Economics at the Cambridge History faculty.

Academic achievements, awards and honors

In recognition of her services to Britain's international cultural and academic relations, the New Year Honours 2000 made Rothschild a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. Rothschild was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2002. She is a fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

She is an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College.