Riane Eisler

Science

b. 1931

California Connection

• Earned her B.A. and J.D. at UCLA and has resided in California since the 1950s

Achievements

Biography current as of induction in 2026

Internationally recognized for her groundbreaking contributions as a social systems scientist, cultural historian, and futurist, Riane Eisler has transformed people’s lives worldwide. She has received many honors, notably the Distinguished Peace Leadership Award previously given to the Dalai Lama.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Eisler escaped the Nazis in 1939, fleeing with her parents on one of the last refugee ships allowed to dock in the Americas. Most members of her extended family were murdered in the Holocaust. These devastating childhood experiences helped spark her future study of the causes of inequality, conflict, and violence.      

Eisler’s innovative whole-systems research offers new perspectives and practical tools for constructing a less violent, more egalitarian, gender-balanced, and sustainable future. Eisler is President of the Center for Partnership Systems (CPS), which provides practical applications of her work, and Editor in Chief of the online Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, published at the University of Minnesota. She has taught at many universities, written hundreds of articles and contributions to both scholarly and popular books, pioneered the application of human rights standards to women and children, and addressed the UN General Assembly. A sought-after keynote speaker at conferences worldwide, she also consults to businesses and governments on the partnership model introduced by her work.

Her many books include The Chalice and the Blade, now in its 57th U.S. printing and 27 foreign editions, and The Real Wealth of Nations, hailed by Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu as “a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking.” Her most recent work, Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives, and Future (Oxford University Press, 2019), co-authored with anthropologist Douglas Fry, shows how to construct a more equitable, sustainable, and less violent world. 

On October 2025, Eisler keynoted CPS’ Peace Begins at Home Summit, an online gathering of leading voices in human rights, peacebuilding, education, and trauma healing to explore how the patterns we learn in our families shape entire societies. The Summit aimed to inspire change, heal divisions, and create a future rooted in care, connection, and shared humanity.

View more inductees from the 19th class, inducted in 2026.