About the 2024 Winner

 

Lori Gruen’s work in philosophy is groundbreaking, and it has substantially transformed institutions of philosophy in liberating ways. She has, over decades, opened up space for new lines of philosophical inquiry by showing them to be morally and politically urgent, and she has, in the process, created new conceptual and institutional spaces for the voices of students and scholars from socially marginalized groups who have also been underrepresented in philosophy.
 

The value of what Prof. Gruen has given to philosophy lies to a significant degree in how her contributions in the areas of scholarship, teaching, and professional leadership are woven together.  She is the author, co-author, or editor of 13 books, and numerous articles in a wide range of areas, including animal rights, environmental ethics, critical theory of race, feminist philosophy, carceral studies, and critical disability studies.  She has written many public-facing pieces, complementing her activism in these areas.  The wide reach of her service work for the profession includes many endeavors that have in their missions the support philosophers from marginalized gender groups.  She is a celebrated teacher in the traditional classroom, but also teaches regularly as part of the Center for Prison Education, an organization she has helped direct.  These lists cannot convey the dramatic impact Prof. Gruen has had on the many individuals she has inspired and supported.  She is a most deserving recipient of the Distinguished Philosopher Award.