Felicia Nimue Ackerman (born 1947) is an American author, poet, and philosopher and professor of philosophy at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. She is a prolific writer of letters to the editor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.''

Early life and education

Ackerman, the daughter of Willis and Rachel Ackerman, was born in Ohio in 1947. She received her A.B., ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1968, and earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...

, in 1976. Regarding her name, she writes, "Felicia Nimue is a double first name like Mary Jane, and I'm called the whole thing". She named herself, "after Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. She explains that she changed her name 'partly because I like her and partly because it was pretty,' and follows with, 'I named myself. After all, your parents have nothing to go on when they name you, because they don’t know you!'"

Selected publications

Ackerman's research interests center on the philosophy of literature, bioethics, and

moral psychology Moral psychology is the study of human thought and behavior in ethical contexts. Historically, the term "moral psychology" was used relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. This field of study is interdisciplinary between th ...

: * Ackerman, Felicia Nimue, "Patient and Family Decisions about Life-Extension and Death", in * According to ''Oxford Handbooks Online Scholarly Research Review'', "her short stories on bioethical themes have appeared in ''Commentary'', ''Mid‐American Review'', ''Prize Stories 1990: The O. Henry Awards'' (Doubleday, 1990), and ''Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies About Human Cloning'' (Norton, 1998)." She has published fifteen short stories, including: * "Flourish Your Heart in This World", in M. Nussbaum and C. Sunstein (eds.), Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies about Human Cloning (Norton, 1998): 310–31, reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 1999: 134–40. * "The Other Two Sides", in S. Hales (ed.), What Philosophy Can Tell You About Your Cat (Open Court, 2008): 89–100, reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 2009: 18–21, and in Italian translation, Il Gatto e la Filosofia, ed. Steven D. Hales, trans. F. Verzotto (Colla Editore, 2011). She writes a monthly op-ed column for ''

The Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, US. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspaper had won four ...

.''Felicia Ackerman profile
brown.edu; accessed March 31, 2017. Ackerman is also a frequent letter writer to ''

'', especially on subjects relating to the treatment of the elderly.

Andrew Marantz Andrew Marantz (born September 26, 1984) is an American author and journalist who writes for ''The New Yorker''. Education and career From 2002 to 2006 Marantz was an undergraduate at Brown University, receiving a bachelor's degree in religion an ...

of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' says letters editor Thomas Feyer named Ackerman the top contender as record holder for the most letters published, exceeding 200 letters since 1987. In a

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

interview, Feyer also noted Ackerman writes as many as five letters to the editor per day.

Awards

From January to June 1985, she served as Senior

Fulbright Lecturer The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

in Philosophy at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. In 1988–89, she served as a Fellow at the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

. In 1990, her short story, "The Forecasting Game: a story" was published in the annual ''Prize Stories 1990'' O. Henry Awards collection.

References

External links

* , (video, 10:00 minutes) * , (video, 10:00 minutes) * , (video, 10:00 minutes) * , (video, 10:00 minutes) * ,(video, 10:00 minutes) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Felicia Nimue 1947 births Living people Brown University faculty Cornell University alumni University of Michigan alumni Philosophers from Rhode Island American expatriates in Israel