STEERING COMMITTEE
A key component of leadership at the Rotman Institute, the Rotman Steering Committee provides advice and assistance to the Director on fulfilling the Vision and Mission of the Institute. The Steering Committee consists of five members of the Institute (elected), the holder of the Rotman Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Science (ex officio), the holder of the Canada Research Chair in Foundations of Physics (ex officio), a postdoctoral fellow representative from the Institute (elected), a graduate student representative from the Institute (elected), the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (ex officio), and the Chair of the Department of Philosophy (ex officio). The current members of the Steering Committee are as follows:
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Rotman Institute of Philosophy’s International Advisory Committee (IAC) provides advice to the Director of the Institute on potential new directions and new additions to the Institute, as well as providing input on educational issues. Members of this vital part of Rotman Institute Leadership are appointed by the President of the University. The current IAC is made up of:
ALAN BERNSTEIN
President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research;
President Emeritus, Canadian Institutes of Health Research;
Executive Director, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
Dr. Alan Bernstein is Executive Director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, an alliance of researchers, funders, and advocates committed to accelerating the development of an HIV vaccine. He was the founding president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. His scientific work includes contributions to our understanding of embryonic development, hematopoietic stem cells, and cancer. His honours include the McLaughlin Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, the Robert L. Noble Prize from the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and the Australian Society of Medical Research Medal. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and is a recipient of the Order of Canada.
JANE MAIENSCHEIN
Professor and Director of the Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University
Dr. Jane Maienschein is Regents’ Professor, President’s Professor, Parents Association Professor, and Director of the Center for Biology and Society at Arizona State University. Dr. Maienschein specializes in the History and Philosophy of Biology and on the social impacts of, and relationships between, biology, bioethics, and biopolicy. An expert on embryology, genetics and cytology, Dr. Maienschein combines detailed analyses of the epistemological standards, theories, laboratory practices and experimental approaches with study of the people, institutions, and changing social, political, and legal context in which science thrives. She is the author of several books and many articles and has received numerous grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, among others. In 2010 she was named Professor of the Year in Arizona by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
JULIAN SAVULESCU
Professor and Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
Director, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Professor Julian Savulescu has held the Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford since 2002. He has degrees in medicine, neuroscience and bioethics. He directs the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics within the Faculty of Philosophy, and leads a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator award on Responsibility and Health Care. He directs the Oxford Martin Programme for Collective Responsibility for Infectious Disease at the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. He co-directs the interdisciplinary Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities in collaboration with Public Health, Psychiatry and History. In 2017, he joined the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, spending four months per year as Visiting Professorial Fellow in Biomedical Ethics where he is working to establish a programme in biomedical ethics, and Melbourne University as Distinguished International Visiting Professor in Law. In 2018, he concluded an extended tenure as Editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics, the highest impact journal in the field, and is founding editor of Journal of Practical Ethics, an open access journal in Practical Ethics.
C. KENNETH WATERS
Tier I Canada Research Chair in Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of Calgary
Dr. C. Kenneth Waters is a Canada Research Chair at the University of Calgary. Dr. Waters’ research concerns the nature of scientific knowledge and the conditions that make this knowledge possible. His belief is that that biology provides an illuminating context for investigating a number of philosophical issues concerning science, and he is fascinated by biologists’ efforts to investigate, manipulate, and understand life. His particular interests include evolutionary biology (specifically concerning issues related to epistemic pluralism and causation), and genetics and allied sciences (specifically issues about realism, reductionism, and the structure of scientific knowledge). He was previously at the University of Minnesota, where he was named a Scholar of the College from 2009-2012, and prior to that was the John Dolan Professor from 2007-2009.