Josiah Ober, the Markos and Eleni Kounalakis Chair in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis, has been awarded a 2025 Balzan Prize for his studies of Athenian democracy that provide insights into current politics. Ober is a professor of political science and of classics in H&S and is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. The Balzan Foundation, based in Switzerland, awards four prizes each year in the humanities and hard sciences and selects themes within these areas. Ober won the prize for the 2025 theme of democracy.

Read more about the award.

Photo of Josiah Ober by LiPo Ching/Stanford University