A few weeks ago I reported on the nomination of Marije Martijn for the JHP book prize 2011, but at that point the other nominees were unknown to me. So I was startled last week to receive an email from Mariska Leunissen (Chapel Hill) with the news that she was one of the other two nominees! (I still do not know who the third one is.) What is startling about it is that Mariska was also a fellow graduate student of mine in Leiden, and in fact Mariska, Marije and I shared an office for about 18 months. I am now confident that most of my skills as a historian of philosophy were picked up by osmosis by breathing the same air as these two.
Mariska works in ancient philosophy, and on Aristotle’s philosophy of science in particular. The nominated book is Explanation and Teleology in Aristotle's Science of Nature, which appeared last year with Cambridge University Press. As with Marije, it is based on the work she has done for her PhD (defended in 2007, if I’m not mistaken). Mariska has a profound understanding of Aristotle’s metaphysics and conception of science, as I could verify for myself in a brief excursion on the topic a few years ago, when I was lucky enough to get a lot of great pointers from her.
After obtaining her doctorate degree, Mariska ‘emigrated’ to the US, where she first held a TT position at Washington University in St. Louis, and has now recently taken up a TT position at UNC Chapel Hill. As Marije, Mariska is most definitely a rising star in the field of ancient philosophy, so competition for the prize will be fierce! As for me, it is extremely rewarding to see my two best friends from grad school making such important scholarly contributions.
As far as I know, the recipient of the prize will be announced in December, and will, of course, be duly noted on this blog. So stay tuned!
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