Tamar Szabó Gendler is the Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University, where she served as the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from July 2014 through December 2024. She holds a BA summa cum laude with Distinction in Humanities and in Mathematics & Philosophy from Yale University (1987) and a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University (1996). Following graduation, she worked as an education policy analyst at the RAND Corporation (1988-1989). Her academic appointments include lecturer at Yale (1996-1997), assistant and associate professor at Syracuse University (1997-2003), associate professor at Cornell University and co-director of its Program in Cognitive Studies (2003-2006). She joined Yale's faculty in 2006 as professor of philosophy and chair of the Cognitive Science Program (2006-2010), chaired the Department of Philosophy (2010-2013)—the first woman to do so in its history—and served as Deputy Provost for Humanities and Initiatives (2013-2014). In 2009-2010, she pursued full-time studies in neuroscience, psychology, and statistics at Yale under a Mellon New Directions Fellowship.

Gendler’s research specializes in philosophy of psychology, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, and moral psychology, addressing philosophical methodology, thought experiments, imagination, belief, perceptual experience, and implicit attitudes through integration of analytic philosophy and empirical psychology. Key publications include her books Intuition, Imagination, and Philosophical Methodology (Oxford University Press, 2010) and Thought Experiment: On the Powers and Limits of Imaginary Cases (Routledge, 2000); co-edited volumes such as the Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology (2016), Perceptual Experience (2006), and Oxford Studies in Epistemology (volumes 1-8, 2005-2023). Influential articles feature “Alief and Belief” (Journal of Philosophy, 2008), named one of the ten best philosophy papers of the year, and “Alief in Action (and Reaction)” (Mind & Language, 2008). She has earned fellowships from the NSF, ACLS/Ryskamp, Collegium Budapest, NEH, and Mellon; the 2013 Yale College Sidonie Miskimin Clauss Teaching Prize; and serves on advisory boards for the National Academies, NSF, NEH, Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian. Gendler offers public lectures and Open Yale Courses on philosophy and human nature.

Professional Email: tamar.gendler@yale.edu