Daniel I. Wikler (born 1946) is an American public health educator, philosopher, and medical ethicist. He is currently the Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Population Ethics and Professor of Ethics and Population Health in the Department of Global Health and Population of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. He is Director and a core faculty member in the Harvard Program in Ethics and Health (PEH). His current research interests are ethical issues in population and

international health International health, also called ''geographic medicine'', '' international medicine'', or '' global health'', is a field of health care, usually with a public health emphasis, dealing with health across regional or national boundaries. One subs ...

, including the allocation of health resources, health research involving human subjects,

organ transplant Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ (anatomy), organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organ ...

ethics, and ethical dilemmas arising in public health practice, and he teaches several courses each year. He is a fellow of the

Hastings Center The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute and think tank based in Garrison, New York. It was instrumental in establishing the field of bioethics and is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy i ...

, an independent bioethics research institution.

Career

Wikler is the son and third child of the late Abraham and Ada Fay Wikler. He was born and raised in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

, where he was graduated from Henry Clay High School. Wikler earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Oberlin College in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

in 1967. He served for two years (1968–1970) as Social Science Analyst in NIMH, the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

, in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. He completed his doctorate in philosophy at the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in 1976.

Early career

From 1972 to 1975, he was also awarded a Teaching Fellowship in the Department of Philosophy. He began his career working on

natural language semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...

at the intersection of philosophy, linguistics, and mathematics. At the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, he was professor of philosophy in the UW-Madison Department of Philosophy, professor in the Department of the History of Medicine's Program in Medical Ethics, and professor in the medical school of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, serving from 1975 to 2002.
From 1980 to 1981, he served on the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine in Washington, D.C., as Staff Philosopher for Biomedical and Behavioral Research. He served as the first staff ethicist for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

, and remains a consultant to several WHO programs. Prof. Wikler was co-founder (with

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, ...

and Helga Kuhse) and second president of th
International Association of Bioethics
and has served on the advisory boards of th

and the

Pan American Health Organization The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an international public health agency working to improve the health and living standards of the people of the Americas. It is part of the United Nations system, serving as the Regional Office fo ...

(AHO) Regional Program in Bioethics. While at the

, he instituted an international collaboration among philosophers and economists on ethical, methodological, and philosophical issues raised by WHO's work in measurement of the global burden of disease and in developing methods fo
improving health resource allocation

Harvard University

Wikler writes, lectures, and advises in bioethics and professional ethics, both internationally and in Greater

, including at Harvard. During the summers, he also attends and teaches at a summer program at Fondation Brocher , Accueil outside

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

. He is considered a world expert on ethics of the medical definition of death, specifically related to the dead-donor rule with regard to organ transplantation. He serves on numerous

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and other professional committees and advises several student groups, including th
Harvard Undergraduate Bioethics Society (HUBS)
sponsor in March 2008 of the National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference. Until 2010, Wikler was the co-director of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Program on Ethical Issues in Global Health Research (formerly Program on Ethical Issues in International Health Research, through June 2008), a program of both empirical and theoretical research on ethical issues in health research, particularly in developing countries. Versions of the course have been taught in over a dozen developing nations, including

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and UAE. The Program offered fellowships for scholars in developing countries and sponsored an intensive each year for an international clientele. A version of that program is now operated by Harvard Chan School's ORARC (which nicknames it 'eager' - EIGHR).

Personal life

Wikler is married to philosopher Sarah Marchand, and was formerly married to

Lynn McDonald Lynn McDonald (born July 15, 1940) is a Canadian academic, climate activist and former Member of Parliament. She is a former president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and was the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of ...

, a professor of social work research and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

consultant. He has three children: two from his first marriage—his daughter, Ruth Wikler, and eldest son, Ben Wikler, a political executive who has served as Chair of the

Democratic Party of Wisconsin The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is currently headed by chair Ben Wikler. Important issues for the state party include support for workers and unions, strong public educ ...

since 2019 and previously worked as a Senior Advisor at

MoveOn MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroots ...

, and a son, Samuel Marchand, from his second marriage.

Select publications

Studies in Philosophy and Health Policy
(book series published b
Cambridge University Press
* Buchanan, Allen; Brock, Dan W.; Daniels, Norman; Wikler, Daniel
From Chance to Choice: Genetics and JusticeCambridge University Press
. 2000.
PubMed Articles
* Wikler, D. and Cash, R. “Ethical Issues in Global Public Health” In Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita, eds.. Global Public Health, Oxford University Press, 2009 * Wikler, D., "A crisis in medical professionalism: time for Flexner II". In Denis Arnold, ed., Ethics and the Business of Biomedicine, Cambridge University Press, 2009 * Wikler, D., Marchand, S., "Society’s Allocation of Resources for Health". In Kuhse H. and Singer P., A Companion to Bioethics. John Wiley and Sons, 2009 * Brock, D., Wikler, D., Ethical Challenges In Long-Term Funding For HIV/AIDS, ''Health Affairs'' 28(6), 2009, 1666-1677 * Schmidt, H., Voigt, K., Wikler, D. Carrots, Sticks, and Health Care Reform — Problems with Wellness Incentives, ''New England Journal of Medicine'' (10.1056/NEJMp0911552), 2009 * Cash, R., Wikler, D., Saxena, A., Capron, A. Casebook on Ethical Issues in International Health Research, Geneva: World Health Organization, 2010. Translated into five languages; second edition forthcoming. In collaboration *

Daniel W. Brock Dan W. Brock (December 1937 – September 26, 2020) was an American philosopher, bioethics, bioethicist, and professor emeritus at Harvard University and Brown University. He was the Frances Glessner Lee Professor Emeritus of Medical Ethics ...

o
Harvard Medical School

DME
an
Harvard's Program in Ethics and Health
* Norman Daniels o
HSPH

Ole Norheim

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

Bergen, Norway Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

* Richard A. Cash o
HSPH
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Till Baernighausen

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

External links

Dan Wikler's HSPH Faculty Site

Full list of important ethics publications, 1977-2013

Harvard Catalyst Profile for Professor Daniel Wikler
- Searchable, with historical timelines of publications and concepts presented.

Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association, Vol 46, No. 11, 2009, p. 1077-1081 In the margin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikler, Dan University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Harvard University faculty Oberlin College alumni American ethicists 20th-century American Jews Jewish philosophers Harvard Medical School faculty Harvard School of Public Health faculty Living people 1946 births Philosophers from Kentucky Hastings Center Fellows 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers 21st-century American Jews