Penn State Graduate School alumnus Robert B. Pippin received the Penn State Graduate School Alumni Society (GSAS) Lifetime Achievement Award on March 23, 2019, at the annual GSAS Recognition Dinner. The award is presented to alumni who have achieved exceptional success throughout the course of their career and have demonstrated loyalty to the University and the Alumni Association.

Pippin is the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Distinguished Service Professor in the department of philosophy, and chair of the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

One nominator described Pippin as “one of the most brilliant, imaginative, original and productive philosophers at work anywhere today.” 

Credited with pioneering the philosophical study of classical American film and contemporary literature, Pippin has also received acclaim for his work in the history of philosophy, particularly his emphasis on the German idealist tradition, with a concentration on Kant and Hegel. His areas of specialization are Kant, German Idealism, Hegel, Nietzsche, 19th and 20th century European philosophy, critical theory, ethics, and political philosophy.

Pippin has received numerous awards and honors, including the Penn State Alumni Fellow Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Penn State Alumni Association.

In 2014, Pippin was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.  Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, he is a member of the German National Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Pippin received a bachelor’s degree in English from Trinity College and a master’s degree and doctoral degree in philosophy from Penn State.