Susan Wolf GS '78 may now be distinguished as an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation award recipient, but when she graduated from Princeton her backup profession was pastry chef.
Wolf — who received a Distinguished Achievement Award in November — certainly did not know right away that she would become a philosophy professor. The child of German-Jewish refugees, Wolf was not sure at first if she would go on to college and considered secretarial school. Her parents had not been able to finish high school.
"The appropriate path for a woman wasn't obvious," Wolf said.
Yet Wolf did well at her New Jersey high school and went to Yale University as an undergraduate. She considered Princeton, but eventually decided it was too close to home.
Wolf entered Yale as a prospective math major, but graduated as a combined math and philosophy major. Part of her motivation to become involved in philosophy was the encouragement she received from faculty. Wolf said she believes this support stemmed from the fact that the major was unusual, and even more so for a woman.
After Yale, Wolf came to Princeton and studied as the advisee of Thomas Nagel. Wolf said she has very happy memories of Princeton. At the time, the sleepy town forced students to look within themselves for entertainment, opening up opportunities for countless debates and discussions with her fellow students.
"There was a strong feeling of community, especially a philosophical community," Wolf said.
In addition, Wolf praised the philosophy department's focus on discussion as a means of education.
"The emphasis in graduate training was all on thinking, talking and writing well, not on scholarship," Wolf said. "You didn't have to be an expert on the details or have read everything. You can catch up on scholarship later."
Logic, language and mind
Paul Benacerraf, chair of the philosophy department during Wolf's years as well as today, said in an email he remembers Wolf as exceptional in her breadth of understanding.
He said Wolf investigated "logic, history of philosophy, with work on Leibniz, Descartes and Aristotle, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind, in addition to ethics, which was destined to be her area of concentration."
Wolf's most recent work has examined the relationship of freedom to determinism — whether humans control their actions with free will or these actions are predetermined by environment, heredity and other factors.
"I argue for a position that is, in a sense, in between. The kind of freedom we need to be responsible, I argue, is the freedom to see and appreciate what reasons there are for preferring one action or way of life to another, as well as the freedom to act on the reasons we recognize," Wolf said.
Wolf worked as a teaching assistant under Gilbert Har-man, a professor in the philosophy department, who also had high praise for her. "It was clear early on that she was going to be an important figure in philosophy," he said in an email.
Though her professors were confident, Wolf was concerned about the tightness of the job market after leaving Princeton and retained pastry chef as a possibility.
Wolf did successfully find her first job at Harvard University, but she says she still likes to bake.
Wolf spent three years at Harvard under a program in which recent Ph.D. recipients were appointed professors for just three years without the chance for an extension. After the three years were over, she moved to the University of Maryland for five years.
Wolf then taught at Johns Hopkins University for 16 years before accepting the position of Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at the beginning of the 2002-03 school year.
Thus far, Wolf said she has enjoyed her time at UNC, despite its differences from Johns Hopkins.
'Diverse'
"There's a big difference between public universities and private universities. At public universities, the students come from a more diverse set of economic backgrounds," Wolf said. "This makes for an interesting student body which helps in philosophy."
Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, the chair of the philosophy department at UNC, said Wolf has been a delight to have in the department.
"[Wolf] has the extraordinary ability to go to the questions that naturally arise for anyone that's reflective living their life," Sayre-McCord said. "She approaches those questions in a way that leaves everyone realizing there's something more . . . to appreciate in them."
As a result of Wolf's work, the Mellon Foundation named her one of the five recipients of their awards. The awards are given jointly to the individual and his or her university. For three years, the grant will provide Wolf's salary and benefits as well as funding for other projects that she approves. The award can total up to $1.5 million over the three-year span.
Though Wolf said she finds the use of the funding to be a daunting prospect, she has several ideas in the works. She said she hopes to have visiting professors come and perhaps jointly teach a seminar with her. In addition, she would like to start workshops to facilitate informal interaction between graduate students and faculty members. Wolf said she would also like to address some subjects that have not been considered lately, but she has not decided on a format and is considering a conference.
Benacerraf said he saw the award as deserved because "such an award can not only recognize [Wolf's] considerable contributions to date, but importantly also free up some time that she can use to continue her work, now, when she is at her creative prime."
Echoing Benacerraf, Sayre-McCord said he would like to see the award offer Wolf the opportunity for her work to thrive.
The award also provides for one of the three years off from teaching. The award does not begin until the fall of 2004, but when Wolf does take the 2005-06 academic year off, she hopes to complete a project on which she has been working for several years. The project addresses the relationships between the meaningfulness, morality and happiness of lives, and Wolf said she would like it to culminate in a short book.
Though the mother of two teenage daughters said she is looking forward to the time away from some of the mundane parts of academic life — including grading papers — she also finds many aspects of teaching rewarding.
Deep thought
Wolf contended that philosophy is one of the most useful majors in that it helps students learn to talk, think and write more clearly.
"Philosophy helps you communicate more effectively," Wolf said. "It's hard to do well in philosophy. It's a sign of someone who is intellectually motivated."
However, Wolf acknowledged that philosophy is not for everyone.
"Philosophy is good for everyone ideally because it gets you to think hard and clearly about things you don't normally think about," Wolf said.
"But, at another level, philosophy is something some have a taste for and some don't."
"Some students will struggle with [philosophy]," Wolf said. "But, for some students, a light goes on. For me, that's the most rewarding — students who think it's great to entertain these big thoughts."
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