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Stanford

  • Stanford

The Americas · Analytic, American, African & Africana

Stanford University in California has housed philosophers, economists and educators. Donald Davidson spent much of his early career there, from 1951 to 1967. Ian Hacking taught at Stanford from 1975 to 1982 and Peter Godfrey-Smith from 1991 to 2003; Nancy Cartwright and Helen Longino also taught there. Nel Noddings returned to its School of Education in 1977 and later became acting dean. Richard Rorty moved to its Department of Comparative Literature in 1998, V. Y. Mudimbe taught there, and Milton Friedman became a senior research fellow of its Hoover Institution after leaving Chicago.

When

  • 1951–2003 Stanford philosophy and education From Davidson's arrival to Godfrey-Smith's departure.

Schools and institutions

  • Stanford University Davidson, Hacking, Cartwright, Longino and Godfrey-Smith taught here.
  • Hoover Institution Friedman was a senior research fellow after 1977.

Thinkers

  • Donald Davidson 1917 – 2003taught here, 1951–1967 (Spent much of his early career at Stanford University.)
  • Richard Rorty 1931 – 2007taught here, 1998 (Left Virginia in 1998 for the Department of Comparative Literature at Stanford.)
  • Peter Godfrey-Smith b. 1965taught here, 1991–2003 (Taught at Stanford University.)
  • V. Y. Mudimbe 1941 – 2025taught here (Taught successively at Haverford College, Duke and Stanford University before returning to Duke.)
  • Nel Noddings 1929 – 2022taught here, 1977 (Returned to Stanford to teach in 1977; acting dean of the School of Education in 1993; Lee L. Jacks Professor from 1994.)
  • Milton Friedman 1912 – 2006worked here, 1977 (Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution after retiring from Chicago.)
  • Ian Hacking 1936 – 2023taught here, 1975–1982 (Taught at Stanford University.)
  • Nancy Cartwright b. 1944taught here, 1991 (Taught at Stanford University for the first part of her academic career.)
  • Helen Longino b. 1944taught here (Clarence Irving Lewis Professor of Philosophy at Stanford, now emerita.)

Sources: SEP: Donald Davidson · SEP: Richard Rorty · Peter Godfrey-Smith: CV and biographical · Boston Globe: Valentin-Yves Mudimbe obituary (2025) · Stanford Report: Nel Noddings obituary (2022) · Nobel Prize: Milton Friedman, biographical · University of Toronto Philosophy: In memoriam Ian Hacking · Academia Europaea: Nancy Cartwright, curriculum vitae · Stanford Profiles: Helen Longino

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