Dewey Center's Hickman named Outstanding Scholar
Hickman, who came to the University in 1993 to head the Center for Dewey Studies, had already made a name for himself before he arrived.
"He was considered the premier interpreter of Dewey as philosopher of science and of industrial society," wrote John Lachs, Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, in his letter supporting Hickman's nomination for the award.
Hickman's book "John Dewey's Pragmatic Technology," published in 1990 and winner of a 1990 Choice award as an outstanding academic work, has been hailed as a "landmark study" and a "classic."
"It is among the very best there is in the world anywhere," Lachs wrote.
Vincent Colapietro, a philosophy professor at The Pennsylvania State University, concurred.
"To be unacquainted with Professor Hickman's book is to be, in my judgment, ignorant of one of the very best works on this figure in American philosophy," he wrote.
Since joining the University, Hickman has continued producing what liberal arts dean Herman J. Saatkamp of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis describes as "some of the finest primary scholarship on Dewey's philosophy," most recently with the high-tech bells and whistles of computer technology.
Hickman's work has put the Dewey Center on the map, making it "a research destination for an entire new generation of scholars," Lach asserted. Under Hickman's leadership, the Center also has received what Lach described as "an unprecedented number" of federal grants, totaling more than $1 million.
While Dewey is his primary focus, Hickman is deeply interested in the philosophy of technology as well, work for which he also has achieved a measure of fame.
A prolific writer, Hickman has published more than 60 articles in his field's leading journals and major books as well as a second book, "Philosophical Tools for Technological Culture: Putting Pragmatism to Work." He also has edited a collection of commentaries that include contributions from nearly every major Dewey scholar, a two-volume anthology of Dewey's writings and three other anthologies in the philosophy of technology. This year, a film he wrote and narrated on Dewey's life and work won a CINE Golden Eagle award.
Hickman is in demand as a speaker, regularly appearing on conference rosters both national and international. Last year alone, he gave presentations in Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Scotland.
Now president-elect of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, Hickman also has served as president of the Society for Philosophy and Technology and of the Southwest Philosophical Society.
A native of McAllen, Texas, Hickman earned his bachelor's degree in 1964 from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and his doctorate in 1971 from The University of Texas at Austin.
- K.C. Jaehnig
March 6, 2002
Larry A. Hickman, known in this country and abroad as an authority on the life and thought of philosopher John Dewey, has been named the University's 2002 Outstanding Scholar. The honor carries with it a $5,000 prize, awarded in the fall. He will be cited during Graduate School commencement ceremonies May 11.
