Emily Greene Balch (
January 8, 1867 –
January 9, 1961) was an
American academic,
writer, and pacifist who received the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 (the prize that year was shared with
John Mott), notably for her work with the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
Born in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston into an affluent family, she was amongst the first graduates of Bryn Mawr College in 1889. She continued to study sociology and economics in Europe and the United States, and, in 1896, she joined the faculty of Wellesley College, becoming a full professor of economics and sociology in 1913.
During the World War I, she helped to found the League and campaigned against America's entry into the conflict.
When her contract was terminated by Wellesley because of her pacifist activities, she became an editor of The Nation, a well-known liberal news magazine, acted as secretary of the WILPF (a second term in 1934 without salary for a year and a half), and did much work for the League of Nations.
