May Brodbeck

May Selznick Brodbeck was an American philosopher of science. Born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 26, 1917, to Louis and Etta Schachter, she married Arthur Brodbeck in the early 1940s, divorcing in 1949. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from New York University in 1941 and taught high school chemistry before joining the Manhattan Project. After the war, she pursued philosophy at the University of Iowa, receiving her Ph.D. in 1947 under Gustav Bergmann. Brodbeck began her academic career at the University of Minnesota in 1947, where she held positions including chair of the philosophy department and dean of the graduate school. In 1974, she moved to the University of Iowa as Carver Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculties, focusing on women's issues and establishing a women's studies program. She retired in 1983 and died in Menlo Park, California, on August 2, 1983. Her work concentrated on the philosophy of science, especially the inclusion of social sciences, and she co-edited influential anthologies. Later, she wrote on the philosophy of mind.