The Society bestows the honor of “Distinguished Fellow” on those who have contributed a lifetime of scholarly dedication to the history of economics. It also presents annually three awards: the Joseph Dorfman Award for the Best Dissertation in the History of Economics, the Craufurd Goodwin Best Article in the History of Economics Award, and the Joseph J. Spengler Award for the Best Book in the History of Economics. Information about these honors and a list of past recipients can be found on the following pages:
Distinguished Fellow of the Society is presented to those individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the study of the history of economics. Nominations from members are welcome and should be suggested to the Nominations Committee.
Joseph Dorfman Prize for the Best Dissertation in the History of Economics. The Dorfman Prize Committee considers only nominated doctoral dissertations. All doctoral dissertations in the history of economic thought and methodology written in English and completed during the previous two academic years are eligible. To nominate a dissertation for the Dorfman Prize, please contact the chair of the committee.
Joseph J. Spengler Prize for the best book in the history of economics. Original, authored books in the history of economics published, in English, during the three calendar years preceding the HES Meeting at which the award is presented may be nominated. Scholarly books and monographs are eligible, as are English-language translations of scholarly books in the history of economics, but neither textbooks, doctoral dissertations, nor edited volumes are eligible. Any publisher may nominate one or two books and should submit a nominating note and four copies of the book for each book nominated. Any individual, including a book’s author, may submit a nominating note and four copies of the book nominated. Eligible books may be re-nominated in successive years (individual nominators may wish to ask the nominee’s publisher to supply the copies). Nomination notes should be submitted by e-mail to the HES Secretary, at secretary@historyofeconomics.org . The Secretary will provide the nominator with the addresses of the members of the judging committee, to whom copies of the nominated book should then be sent. To be considered, nominations must be received and book copies supplied to the judging committee members no later than December 31.
Craufurd Goodwin Best Article in the History of Economics: Any article in the history of economics or economic thought published in English in the calendar year preceding the next Annual Meeting of the Society is eligible (e.g. calendar year 2008 for Annual Meeting in June 2009). It is recognized however, that despite official publication dates, many publications are shipped after year end. In such cases, relevant articles that are in ‘proof’ form, with accompanying evidence of the journal and its year of publication, may be accepted at the discretion of the Chair of the committee. The Committee considers all nominated articles as well as all articles published in the Society’s journal: Journal of the History of Economic Thought. The committee may not ask editors of journals for their nominations as editors, but editors may nominate in a personal capacity. Nomination of an article by its author is welcome. To nominate an article for the award, please contact the chair of the committee.
Best Conference Paper by a Young Scholar: created in 2017, it recognizes the best paper presented at the HES annual meeting by a young scholar (a student or anyone who received their PhD in the two preceding years).
JHET Early Career Scholar Award: created in 2023 and recognizes emerging talents (a graduate student or someone who received their degree in the four preceding years) in our field who published the best article in JHET.