The International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology awards the David L. Hull Prize biennially to honor the life and legacy of David L. Hull (1935–2010). The Hull Prize is awarded to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to scholarship and service in ways that promote interdisciplinary connections between history, philosophy, social studies, and biology and who has fostered the careers of younger scholars. These strengths reflect the contributions of David Hull to our professions and to our Society. Nominees can be at any stage in their career, and nominations are considered by the David L. Hull Prize Committee. This year’s committee included Michel Morange, Joeri Witteveen, Jenny Bangham, and Marsha Richmond.
On behalf of the Society, the 2021 David L. Hull Prize Committee awards this year’s prize to Dr. Michael Ruse, Emeritus Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University. The Committee was impressed by Michael’s immense scholarship and his many professional activities involving ISH. In addition, the Committee took note of the close friendship between Michael and David Hull, which makes his receipt of the Hull Prize medal particularly fitting. We draw on his nomination packet in composing this citation.
Michael Ruse received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bristol in 1970. He taught for 35 years at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada before transferring to Florida State University in the United States in 2000, where he taught until his retirement in 2021.
Michael has been a fundamental force in shaping the disciplines of the history and philosophy of biology. The author or editor of over 30 monographs and important volumes, he has contributed to both the history and the philosophy of biology. He is among the founders of the Darwin industry, heralded in part by the publication of The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw (1979, 1999). This work was particularly important for a rising generation of historians and philosophers of biology; indeed, many of his books have been mainstays in graduate as well as undergraduate education. Michael was among the first to recognize new departures in history and philosophy of science, represented by Sociobiology: Sense or Nonsense (1979, 1989) and Homosexuality: A Philosophical Inquiry (1988). Several landmark works have oriented decades of continuing debates in HPS, including the historical contributions of Darwinism and evolutionary biology, treated, for example, in Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology (1996); the relationship between science and religion (particularly debates regarding creationism), reflected in The Evolution-Creation Struggle (2009).
Michael expanded the reach of history and philosophy of science to more general audiences, with such titles as A Philosopher Looks at Human Beings (2021), Social Darwinism (2021); A Meaning to Life (2019); The Problem of War: Darwinism and Christianity (2018); On Purpose (2017); Darwinism as Religion: What Literature Tells Us about Evolution (2016); Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know (2014); and The Gaia Hypothesis: Science on a Pagan Planet (2013). Moreover, his expert testimony in the high profile trial, McLean v. Arkansas (1981), which successfully challenged the legitimacy of teaching “creation science” in US public schools, is a model for the kind of social commitment and activism that our profession can provide to promote the integrity of science.
Throughout his career, Michael has been dedicated to fostering interdisciplinarity, a cornerstone of ISH. After a long career at Guelph, he was called to Florida State University to create and direct the History and Philosophy of Science program. Using his own research money, he hosted a number of Werkmeister conferences that brought graduate students and assistant professors to campus to participate in workshops with distinguished faculty. Michael emphasized building connections between the HPS and Ecology and Evolution programs, which resulted in graduates having a solid background in a wide range of humanities and science fields. In short, Michael has been instrumental in promoting the history and philosophy of biology as an attractive field of study for the past fifty-five years.
Michael has been a regular fixture at ISH meetings since the early years of the Society. Many have vivid images of him participating on high-profile panels, such as one with Steve Gould and Ernst Mayr at the 1993 Brandeis meeting. Characteristically, Michael attracts attention. A prospective graduate student attending ISH for the first time in 1993 recalled wondering who “the bearded, t-shirt and shorts wearing rather impudent character” was —he “seemed flip, unserious” and found that he “didn’t like him much”. Certainly, he’s not the only one struck by Michael’s public persona. Yet years later, he, like so many other junior scholars in the history and philosophy of biology, benefitted from the kind of career advancement opportunities that Michael provided, including invitations to attend conferences or to publish in one of his many edited volumes. For instance, among the contributors to Evolution, the First Four Billion Years (2009), in addition to E.O. Wilson and Daniel Dennett, Michael included the work of twelve graduate students and assistant professors. Many may not realize that their tenure or promotion cases were supported by a letter of recommendation penned by Michael. The lineage of scholars who have benefitted from Michael’s writings, mentorship, and guidance is indeed broad and deep, and he does this for no other reason than for personal satisfaction.
While Michael has received substantial recognition over the years for his contributions as a scholar and a teacher, no doubt his receipt of the David L. Hull Prize from the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology will be among his most cherished. We congratulate him.
Marsha Richmond, Chair of the 2021 David L. Hull Prize Committee