Cristina Bicchieri Appointed Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics

Cristina Bicchieri has been appointed the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Bicchieri is a member of the Department of Philosophy and previously held the title of the Carol and Michael Lowenstein Professor of Philosophy and Legal Studies. She has been the director of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program since 2004.

In 2007, Dr. Bicchieri was knighted Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, one of the highest honors conferred by the Italian government for contributions in the arts and sciences. She participates in multiple professional activities and is currently an advisory board member for the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the Wharton School, a consultant for the UNICEF Human Rights Program and a member of the advisory board for the Philosophical Gourmet Report. Her most recently penned book, The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms, explains experimental results demonstrating that most subjects have a conditional preference for following pro-social norms. Dr. Bicchieri has several ongoing articles and a new book, Why Does Game Theory Matter to Philosophy, in the works.

The Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Chair of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics was established in 2007 in memory of Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie through a bequest by her late husband, Dr. Fred H. Harvie, a professor of pediatrics at Penn. The Harvies were both born in Ontario, Canada, and she studied fine arts at the University of Toronto. The Harvies’ desire for this chair was to support a faculty member who had an impact on reducing tension between people of different faiths and cultural backgrounds.