Evelyn Fox Keller

Evelyn Fox Keller (March 20, 1936 – September 22, 2023) was an American physicist, author, and feminist. She was Professor Emerita of History and Philosophy of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Keller's early work concentrated at the intersection of physics and biology. Her subsequent research focused on the history and philosophy of modern biology and on gender and science. Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, to Jewish immigrants from Russia, Keller grew up in Woodside, Queens. She received her B.A. in physics from Brandeis University in 1957 and continued her studies in theoretical physics at Harvard University, graduating with a Ph.D. in 1963. She became interested in molecular biology during a visit to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory while completing her Ph.D. dissertation. Keller has also taught at various universities including Northeastern University, Cornell University, University of Maryland, Northwestern University, Princeton University, State University of New York at Purchase, New York University and in the department of rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. Her early work in science was encouraged by her brother Maurice Sanford Fox. In 2007, Keller sat on the USA advisory board of FFIPP (Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-USA). When she won the Israeli Dan David Prize in 2018, she publicly donated the award to human rights organizations. Evelyn Fox Keller died on September 22, 2023, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 87.