Remembering Kathleen Okruhlik
About Kathleen
Kathleen Okruhlik was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Houston. She attended Marquette University then Pittsburgh HPS for her PhD. She taught in the Philosophy Department for four decades at the University of Western Ontario, in London Ontario.
A creative and inspiring academic, Kathleen’s keen intellect was joined to a capacity for genuine connections with others: she was good with people. So it did not take long for her to be called on to fill a number of important leadership roles. She was the founding Director of the Centre for Women’s Studies and Feminist Research which grew and developed over the years into the current Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. Next, she was the first woman to Chair Western’s Department of Philosophy and then she served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts (later Arts and Humanities) from 1999-2008. While Dean, she was instrumental in the initial creation of the Rotman Institute for Philosophy. Kathleen was a talented and dedicated administrator, with a capacity for great attention to detail in the service of a larger vision, and a remarkable commitment to principle and respect for all persons. She was a fierce and tireless advocate for all things Arts and Humanities. She also invested her various roles with her characteristic energy and enthusiasm, and a gentle, genuine humanity. She didn’t just know the names of everyone she worked with, she knew the names of their children and partners and asked after them at every opportunity.
Much of her energy went into administration, but she also did important work on the history and philosophy of science (Newton, Leibniz, Kant) and feminism and the philosophy of science. She coedited several books on, for instance, Leibniz, Women and Reason, and PSA 1992. Her 1994 paper, “Gender and the Biological Sciences,” continues to have a great deal of influence. It put two doctrines together: there is no logic of discovery and theory evaluation is fundamentally comparative. She drew the consequence that for the sake of better science the pool of those who create theories had to be as diverse as possible. This led to a policy of affirmative action that is based on epistemic considerations, not correcting past injustices. Almost weekly she received (and still receives) discussions of this paper and even fan letters, especially from young women.
Kathleen suffered a stroke and declined rapidly over a four-week period. She died peacefully on June 6, 2024, with her family at her side, including her husband of 50 years, Jim Brown (a philosopher at Toronto), and her two children, Elizabeth and Stephen. She has two young grandchildren.
