Political theorist Danielle Allen has been appointed the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study. Dr. Allen will join the faculty of the institute on July 1.
Dr. Allen will fill the position currently held by Michael Walzer, who joined the faculty in 1980 and was named as the UPS Foundation Professor in 1986. Professor Walzer will retire effective July 1.
Trained both as a classicist and a political theorist, Dr. Allen is presently dean of the humanities division of the University of Chicago, where she has served on the faculty since 1997. Her particular interests are democratic theory, political sociology, the linguistic dimensions of politics and the history of political thought.
"In a few years, Danielle Allen has already established a quite extraordinary record of achievement," commented Peter Goddard, director of the Institute for Advanced Study. "Her work is outstandingly original, with enormous depth and range, addressing issues of the greatest importance to contemporary society. Her appointment here will ensure that the Institute retains a leading position in political theory."
Dr. Allen received her undergraduate education in classics at Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude. She was awarded master’s and doctorate degrees in classics from Cambridge University and went on to Harvard University, where she received her master’s and doctorate in political science. She joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 1997 as assistant professor of classics. In 2000, Dr. Allen became associate professor of classical languages and literatures, political science and the committee on social thought. In 2003, she was promoted to professor. The following year she was named dean of the division of humanities.
Widely known for her work on justice and citizenship in ancient Athens and its application to modern America, Dr. Allen is the author of "The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens" (Princeton University Press, 2000) and "Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship Since Brown vs. the Board of Education" (University of Chicago Press, 2004).
In 2002 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for her ability to combine "the classicist’s careful attention to texts and language with the political theorist’s sophisticated and informed engagement."
Dr. Allen’s plans for future work include a theoretical study of politics and change; an historical study of Platonic political thought; an examination of the concept of equality; and a theoretical study of democracy, knowledge and higher education.

