Kenneth
Boulding came from a working class family in Liverpool, but his brilliance as
a student helped him rise above his humble beginnings and brought him to Oxford
University. At Oxford, his deep belief in pacifism convinced him to become a Quaker,
which changed the course of his life. He met his future wife Elise
Hansen at a Quaker Meeting in Syracuse after emigrating to the United States
on a scholarship. Kenneth Boulding and his family spent the next two decades teaching
economics at a number of colleges and universities around the world, and he earned
an international reputation for his writings which integrated economics with peace,
conflict resolution, ethics and environmental concerns. In 1967 the Bouldings
settled in Colorado where they both taught at the University of Colorado, and
earned worldwide recognition as leaders in the international peace research movement
of the 1960s. Over his lifetime, Kenneth Boulding wrote nearly 40 books, three
volumes of poetry and over 800 articles, and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize
in economics and peace.
