Carmel-based scholar Riane Eisler to be inducted into California Hall of Fame.

Since the California Hall of Fame was created in 2006 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, First Lady Maria Shriver and the California Museum, 174 Californians have been inducted into the prestigious group, acknowledged for their contributions to the state, the nation and the world in a variety of disciplines from sports to entertainment to arts to public service. 

Tonight, March 19, scholar Riane Eisler of Carmel will join their ranks in the 19th group of inductees to be announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. 

Eisler, a social systems scientist, is known for her research on how to construct more egalitarian and less violent societies that prioritize human rights. That work has led her to present to international governments that incorporate her model, as well as audiences such as the UN General Assembly. 

She is the president of the Center for Partnership Systems and editor-in-chief of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, published at the University of Minnesota. 

She is an author many times over, most notably The Chalice and the Blade (which now has 27 foreign editions, despite causing "a big brouhaha" upon publication in 1987, according to Eisler) and The Real Wealth of Nations. 

"My work is about changing the fragmentation of our worldview," she told the Weekly in 2021. 

Eisler has introduced scholarly ideas that make their way out of the academy and into the public. In a 2021 interview, she said we need to create new metrics that help us prioritize what really matters to high-functioning societies. "As long as we are stuck with GDP we have a mess on our hands, because we are measuring all the wrong things," she said. "We call the important things 'externalities,' and that’s by design. But there are alternatives."

Her work has focused on giving a roadmap to those alternatives. 

Her north star has been and remains a more peaceful world for all. Her own life began amid violence. Eisler was born in Vienna during the Nazi occupation, then fled with her family to Cuba, where she lived until 14 when she moved to the United States. 

Other inductees include track and field athlete Carl Lewis, America's first all-woman mariachi ensemble Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles, influential chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (aka "Nobu"), actor Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others. 

“This year’s class embodies the very best of California—creativity, resilience, and a spirit of community," Siebel Newsom said in a statement. 

The ceremony can be livestreamed at 7pm.