Steven G. Medema
George Family Research Professor
Duke University
Steven G. Medema is the George Family Research Professor of Economics in Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and an academic affiliate of the International Center for Law & Economics.
His research focuses on the history of economic thought, public economics, and law & economics, with particular attention to the development and influence of the Coase theorem across economics and legal scholarship. His recent book projects examine the intellectual history of the Coase theorem and the broader evolution of economic ideas. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including “The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-Interest in the History of Economic Ideas,” “The Economics Book: From Xenophon to Cryptocurrency, 250 Milestones in the History of Economics,” and “Economics and the Law: From Posner to Postmodernism.”
Medema also serves as associate director of Duke’s Center for the History of Political Economy and a research associate in the Duke University School of Law. He previously was University Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Honors and Leadership Program at the University of Colorado Denver, where he also served as department chair. He has held visiting appointments at several universities in the United States and Europe.
His professional distinctions include election as president of the History of Economics Society and the European Society for the History of Economic Thought’s Best Monograph Award for “The Hesitant Hand.” He also received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship for his work on the intellectual history of the Coase theorem, along with multiple research, teaching, and service awards.
He earned a Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s from Calvin University.
