Linda López McAlister (October 10, 1939November 9, 2021) was an American philosopher and academic. She held several positions in academia, spending much of her career at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

(USF). She became Professor Emerita of Philosophy at USF in 1999. She also worked as a radio film critic and ran her own theatrical company.

Biography

McAlister attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. As a Senior Fulbright Researcher at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, she worked with a colleague to organize the first meeting of female philosophers in Germany. That event led to the establishment of the International Association of Women Philosophers. Early in her career, she taught at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

and

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. After three years as dean of the USF Fort Myers campus, McAlister was an administrator for the

State University System of Florida The State University System of Florida (SUSF or SUS) is a system of twelve public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2018, over 341,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities. Together with the Florida College Syst ...

. From 1987 until her 1999 retirement, she returned to USF, teaching philosophy and women's studies. For her last three years at USF, she was a department chair. She was a past editor (1990–95) and co-editor (1995–98) of '' Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy''. She translated and edited the English edition of ''

Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint ''Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint'' (german: Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte) (1874; second edition 1924) is an 1874 book by the Austrian philosopher Franz Brentano, in which the author argues that the goal of psychology should be ...

'' by Austrian philosopher

Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was an influential German philosopher, psychologist, and former Catholic priest (withdrawn in 1873 due to the definition of papal infallibility in matters of F ...

. She organized the 1998 conference of the International Association of Women Philosophers; it was the organization's eighth conference and the first held outside of Europe. In the same year, the

Society for Women in Philosophy The Society for Women in Philosophy was created in 1972 to support and promote women in philosophy. Since that time the Society for Women in Philosophy or "SWIP" has expanded to many branches around the world, including in the US, Canada, Ireland, ...

named her the Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year. McAlister was a radio film critic for ''The Women's Show'' on

WMNF WMNF is a non-commercial, community radio station operating in the city of Tampa in the U.S. state of Florida that broadcasts at the FM frequency of 88.5 MHz and streaming live. The station has been on the air since September 14, 1979, and ha ...

in Tampa from 1990 to 1999. She has hosted ''Radio Theatre'' for

KUNM KUNM is a public radio station broadcasting on FM 89.9 MHz from high atop Sandia Crest, with broadcasts originating from the third floor of Oñate Hall, on the campus of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As of ...

in Albuquerque since 2004. She founded a theatrical company associated with the

National Hispanic Cultural Center The National Hispanic Cultural Center is an institution in Albuquerque, New Mexico dedicated to Hispanic culture, arts and humanities. The campus spans 20 acres and is located along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Avenida César Cháv ...

known as Camino Real Productions. She married Sharon Bode in 2008. McAlister died of heart failure in Albuquerque on November 9, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlister, Linda López 1939 births 2021 deaths American women philosophers Barnard College alumni Cornell University alumni University of South Florida faculty San Diego State University faculty Brooklyn College faculty People from Long Beach, California 21st-century American women