The Department of Philosophy is fortunate to have had several generous benefactors over the years. Their gifts and contributions greatly enhance the life of the department, its faculty, and its students. We recognize and honor them here.

Mahlon Powell, 1842-1928

For many years, the Mahlon Powell Foundation Bequest funded a distinguished series of lectures at Indiana University. For a list from 1936 to 1960, see Appendix 1 to Henry Veatch, Towards a History of the Indiana University Philosophy in Bloomington. This bequest also funded the Mahlon Powell Professorship of Philosophy, held by Hector-Neri Castañeda until his death in 1991, and continues to support a variety of departmental activities.

James B. Nelson, 1872-1961

The James B. Nelson Bequest funds faculty research accounts, graduate student travel and summer fellowships, the James B. Nelson Dissertation Year Fellowship, the annual Julia-Jean Nelson Rudd Lecture, as well as many other benefits to the department. See Newsletter, Summer 1992.  

Oscar R. Ewing, 1889-1980, IU graduate in Philosophy in 1910

The Oscar R. Ewing Endowment funds the Oscar R. Ewing Professorship of Philosophy, held by J. Michael Dunn until his retirement in 2007; before that by Raymond Smullyan; and, in a visiting capacity, by Nuel D. Belnap and Saul Kripke. The Ewing Endowment also funds many other departmental activities. See Newsletter, Winter 1988–89.

Sisters Elizabeth Drummond and Nancy Seidel gave this bequest in honor of their mother, Dona Roberts Biddle (pictured, 1891-1991), a 1929 graduate of IU. Their generosity enables the annual Dona Roberts Biddle Memorial Philosophy Scholarship. See Newsletter, Summer/Fall 1994.

The Betty Neal Hamilton Memorial Fund for Students honors the memory of Betty Neal Hamilton († 1995), head secretary in Philosophy from 1962 to 1982. The fund supports research, travel, and scholarly awards for undergraduate majors. See Newsletter, Summer 1996.

A gift of the university and friends, the Myles and Peg Brand Graduate Fellowship in Philosophy was first awarded in September 2003. See Newsletter, Summer 2003.

Together Peg and Myles created the Irving and Shirley Brand Graduate Fellowship to honor former IU President Myles Brands’ parents, Irving and Shirley Brand. The fellowship is an annual College of Arts and Sciences fellowship for incoming or current Bloomington graduate students in the Humanities, with preference given to students of Philosophy.

The James F. Fields and Anthony J. Moss Fellowship was established in 1998 by Nancy and Clemens S. (Bud) Moss. Nancy and Bud are both graduates of IU, and for eighteen years Nancy was the Philosophy department administrative assistant, retiring in 2001. The fellowship honors their fathers, James M. Fields (who attended IU and performed with Hoagy Carmichael in the Singing Hoosiers), and Anthony J. Moss. It supports a graduate student in Philosophy concentrating on either ethics or the history of philosophy. See Newsletter, Summer 2001.

Jean Derdula Mick Excellence in Philosophy Scholarship/Fellowship

David and Cindy Mick established the Jean Derdula Mick Excellence in Philosophy Scholarship/Fellowship in his mother’s honor. Jean’s interests in literature, history, and philosophy led her son David to begin a life of intellectual pursuit that included his studies at Indiana University and his career as a professor.