Bird from KCL to Cambridge’s Russell Professorship
Alexander Bird, currently the Peter Sowerby Professor of Philosophy and Medicine at King’s College, London (KCL) as well as an associate member of the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University and a visiting fellow at Exeter College, Oxford, has been named as the next Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University.
Professor Bird, who moved to KCL in 2018, works in philosophy of science, the philosophy and history of medicine, metaphysics, and epistemology. He new book, Knowing Science, is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. You can learn more about Professor Bird’s research here.
The Russell Professorship was created in 1896. It is currently held by Huw Price, who is reportedly retiring in September. The previous Russell Professors were: Simon Blackburn (2001-2011), D. H. Mellor (1986-99), Elizabeth Anscombe (1970-86), John Wisdom (1952-68), G. H. von Wright (1948-51), Ludwig Wittgenstein (1939-47), G. E. Moore (1925-39), and James Ward (1896-1925).
Professor Bird will be taking up his new position in time for the 2020 academic year.
In addition to being a philosopher, Professor Bird is also a composer, and some of his musical works are listed here. Here is his 2018 Movement for Wind Quintet:
Doesn’t it seem funny to say that the “Russell Professorship” was created in 1896? That’s when the second professorship in philosophy at Cambridge is known as now, but it didn’t have that name until 2010, and it certainly seems odd to say that someone held the “Bertrand Russell Professorship” during the time when Russell himself was a fellow, or even a student, at Cambridge!