Indiana University (IU) professor of political science Elinor Ostrom, the first woman winner of a Nobel Prize for economics, died Tuesday at the age of 78, according to media reports citing the university and her friend.

The reports quoted IU spokesman Steve Hinnefeld as saying that Elinor Ostrom passed away Tuesday morning at IU Health Bloomington Hospital from cancer.

Ostrom shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics with Oliver Williamson from the University of California, Berkeley. They were honored for analyzing the rules by which people exercise authority in companies and economic systems.

IU President Michael McRobbie confirmed Ostrom's death in a statement, saying that IU has lost an irreplaceable and magnificent treasure with her passing.

Throughout her lifetime, Ostrom had brought distinction to the university through her groundbreaking work, which received the ultimate recognition in 2009, McRobbie added.

Ostrom was born and grew up in Los Angeles. She had been an IU faculty member since 1965.