Dewey, Robert E., 1923-1979

Biography

Born in Vermillion, South Dakota on 11 August 1923, Robert Eugene Dewey moved to Nebraska with his parents. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1943 with a B.A. degree in philosophy. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 and was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant. In the fall of 1946, Dewey entered the graduate program in philosophy at Harvard University. He completed his M.A. and went on the finish his Ph.D. in 1949. Upon completing his doctorate, Dewey accepted the position of assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland. Dewey remained at the University of Maryland until 1952 when Mortimer Adler asked him to join the Institute for Philosophical Research in Chicago as a research fellow.

Dewey worked as a research fellow for the Institute for Philosophical Research for three years where he compiled information for Adler's The Idea of Freedom. While at the Institute, Dewey worked with other noted philosophers such as Otto Bird, Alburey Castell, and Jacques Maritain. Dewey left the Institute for Philosophical Research in 1955 for a position as assistant professor of philosophy at Dartmouth College. He remained at Dartmouth until 1958 when he accepted a position as associate professor of philosophy at the University of Nebraska. Between 1962 and 1974, Dewey served as a full professor and chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Nebraska. In 1977 he received the Annis Chaikin Sorenson Award of excellence in teaching in the humanities.

Robert E. Dewey died in a car accident on 29 July 1979.