Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah—arguably the nation’s most prominent black philosopher—has decided to give up his endowed professorship at Princeton University and will join the faculty at New York University in January.
Appiah, 59, will hold a joint teaching appointment in the philosophy department and the law school, and has been tasked with teaching at the Manhattan campus, as well as offering occasional seminars and courses to students enrolled at many of the university’s international campuses, like the ones in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.
After 11 years as the Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton, Appiah said that the offer to join NYU was appealing.
“I’ve been challenged to think about the global side of NYU,” he said in an interview with Diverse a day after receiving his official offer letter from NYU. “This seemed exciting to me, especially as I think more about global ethics questions.”
Appiah arrived at Princeton in 2002 after spending several decades teaching at other prestigious universities: Harvard, Duke, Cornell and Yale. Though he’s maintained a residence in New Jersey, he’s commuted back and forth to New York City where he lives with his spouse, Henry Finder, the editorial director of The New Yorker. The idea of being headquartered full time in New York also factored into his decision to leave the Ivy League school
“I love Princeton. It’s a great place,” Appiah said. “I’ve had a great time and it was a very productive period for me. I’ve had wonderful students and great colleagues.”
