Professor Matthias Steup, the Philosophy Department Head at Purdue University, has been selected to serve as chair of the University of Colorado Boulder Philosophy Department starting this fall. Steven Leigh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, announced the appointment today after an international search.
“Professor Steup is an excellent leader who has a proven track record of success after coming into Purdue as an external chair seven years ago,” Leigh said. “He is strongly committed to fairness, diversity and inclusion. I have no doubt that he will continue to build on advancing collegiality within the department.”
Philosophy Professor David Boonin, who helped to oversee the search, is currently serving a one-year appointment as department chair and will go on sabbatical for the 2016-17 academic year.
Steup has served as the Philosophy Department Head at Purdue University since 2008. He was previously a faculty member at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota from 1989 to 2008 – including two stints as department chair. Steup served as president of the Central States Philosophical Association in 2008. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Brown University in 1985.
“I’m very excited about moving to Colorado and joining such a strong department with highly distinguished colleagues,” Steup said. “In theoretical and applied ethics, CU’s Philosophy Department is one of the top in the country. I expect that the department will be exemplary in advancing diversity, inclusion and a friendly, collegial climate. With my extensive administrative experience, I believe I am well-positioned to be instrumental in moving the department forward on its path of excellence in research, teaching and service.”
