In 2017 David Anderson will be retiring from Illinois State University. Anderson joined the Department of Philosophy in 1988, and over the course of his career, he has become a highly respected scholar, teacher, and colleague. His contributions to work in cognitive science, robotics, and the philosophy of mind are very highly regarded and his establishment and direction of The Mind Project have been extraordinary. The Mind Project is a National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health-funded project that has received over $2 million in grant funding and has been recognized by the College of Arts and Sciences as a Program of Excellence.
In 2015 Anderson was awarded the Stan and Sandy Rives Excellence in Undergraduate Education Award, one of ISU’s highest teaching awards. In a letter of support for the award Robert Arrigo, a former student, wrote:
“David Anderson created an accessible, sweeping introduction to the mind—all minds, and the brain—wetware and hardware. As a class, we engaged in spirited group discussions about ancient views of the self and the soul, the origins and evolution of philosophy of mind, and followed the intellectual trail beyond history, and into the realm of science fiction. This wasn’t a passive, guided tour; Dr. Anderson expertly designed the course to engage us as active participants, and I’ve never seen a collection of freshmen and sophomores so transfixed, all the more impressive given the known difficulty of the course.”
Anderson has been a wonderful colleague and his contributions to the department and to the university have been extraordinary. We congratulate him on his retirement, but we will sorely miss him.
