October 19th 2014

Collegium Ramazzini Fellow Carol Cranor named Phi Beta Kappa's Romanell Professor in Philosophy for 2014-2015

Collegium Ramazzini Fellow Carl Cranor, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and faculty member of the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program at the University of California, Riverside, is Phi Beta Kappa's Romanell Professor in Philosophy for 2014-2015.

The Romanell Professorship, awarded annually, recognizes the recipient's distinguished achievement and substantial contribution to the public understanding of philosophy. Phi Beta Kappa provides a stipend to supplement the awardee's salary, and the professor gives a series of three lectures open to both their institution's academic community and the general public.

Cranor's lecture series will be entitled "A Brief History of the Philosophic Relations between Science and Law to Protect the Public's Health".The three lectures will be titled Industrial Chemicals as Nuisances: The Rise of Environmental Health Laws and Their Limitations; Cancers, Brain Disorders, and the Feminization of Boys: Can We Avoid Poisoning Our Children?; and How Do Obscure Supreme Court Decisions Affect Me?

Cranor's most recent book is Legally Poisoned: How the Law Puts Us at Risk from Toxicants (Harvard University Press, 2011). Cranor has previously held American Council of Learned Societies (1980-81), Yale Law School (1980-1981) and American Philosophical Association Congressional (1985-86) fellowships, in addition to being an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1998) and the Collegium Ramazzini (2003).

About the Phi Beta Kappa Society
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the United States' oldest academic honor society. It has chapters at 283 institutions and more than half a million members throughout the country. Its mission is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, to recognize academic excellence, and to foster freedom of thought and expression.