Sheilagh Catheren Ogilvie, FBA (born 7 October 1958) is a Canadian historian, economist, and academic, specialising in

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and i ...

. Since 2020, she has been Chichele Professor of Economic History at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Previously, she taught at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Early life and education

Ogilvie was born on 7 October 1958 to Robert Townley Ogilvie and Sheilagh Stuart Ogilvie. She was brought up in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. She was educated at Grantown Grammar School, a

state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools ( Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in ...

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey ( gd, Baile nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, about ...

, Scotland, and at Queen Elizabeth High School in Calgary, Alberta. She studied modern history and English at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, graduating with a first class

undergraduate Master of Arts The degree of Master of Arts (MA; , ) in Scotland is an undergraduate degree. The degree can be either a three-year general or four-year ''Honours degree'' in humanities or social sciences, awarded by one of several institutions. Chiefly, the ...

(MA Hons) degree in 1979. She undertook postgraduate research in history at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, and completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in 1985. Her

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled "Corporatism and regulation in rural industry: woollen weaving in Wurttemberg, 1590-1740". She later studied for a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA) degree in

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

(

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

) at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, which she completed in 1992.

Academic career

From 1984 to 1988, Ogilvie was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1989, she joined the Faculty of Economics of the

as an assistant lecturer in

. She was promoted to

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in 1992, and made a

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in Economic History in 1999. In 2004, she was appointed

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of Economic History. Between 2013 and 2016, she additionally held a Wolfson/

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...

Research Professorship. In April 2020, it was announced that she would be the next Chichele Professor of Economic History at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. She took up the professorship for the start of the 2020/21 academic year and was additionally elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of ...

. She is additionally an associate member of the Department of Economics, University of Oxford. Ogilvie has held a number of visiting appointments. From 1993 to 1994, she was a visiting fellow at the Czech National Archive in Prague, and a guest

dozent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

in the Department of Economic and Social History at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

. From 1994 to 1995, she was a visiting fellow at the Centre for History and Economics of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

. In 1998, she was a visiting fellow at the Center for Economic Studies of the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

Honours

In 2004, Ogilvie was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the hu ...

for the humanities and social sciences. In 2021, she was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

(FACSS).

Selected publications

* Edwards, Jeremy, and Sheilagh Ogilvie. "Contract enforcement, institutions, and social capital: the Maghribi traders reappraised1." The Economic History Review 65.2 (2012): 421-444. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh. Institutions and European trade: Merchant guilds, 1000–1800. Cambridge University Press, 2011. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh. "Rehabilitating the guilds: a reply." The Economic History Review 61.1 (2008): 175-182. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh. "'Whatever is, is right'? Economic institutions in pre‐industrial Europe1." The Economic History Review 60.4 (2007): 649-684. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh. "How does social capital affect women? Guilds and communities in early modern Germany." The American historical review 109.2 (2004): 325-359. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh. "Guilds, efficiency, and social capital: evidence from German proto-industry." Economic history review (2004): 286-333. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh C. A bitter living: women, markets, and social capital in early modern Germany. Oxford University Press on Demand, 2003. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh, and Markus Cerman. European proto-industrialization: an introductory handbook. Cambridge University Press, 1996. * Edwards, Jeremy, and Sheilagh Ogilvie. "Universal banks and German industrialization: a reappraisal1." The Economic History Review 49.3 (1996): 427-446. * Ogilvie, Sheilagh. European Guilds: An Economic Analysis. Princeton University Press, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogilvie, Sheilagh 1958 births Living people Canadian women historians Canadian economists 20th-century Canadian historians 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian women economists Economic historians Academics of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Writers from Calgary Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge University of Chicago alumni 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Chichele Professors of Economic History Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences