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Van Meter Ames

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Van Meter Ames
BornJuly 9, 1898
DiedNovember 9, 1985(1985-11-09) (aged 87)
SpouseBetty Breneman
Children3
Parent(s)Edward Scribner Ames (father)
Mabel Van Meter Ames (mother)
RelativesScribner Ames (sister)
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Chicago (BA, PhD)
ThesisThe Aesthetics of the Novel (1924)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Cincinnati
Cornell University
University of Texas
Columbia University

Van Meter Ames (July 9, 1898[1] — November 9, 1985) was an American academic and educator who served as a professor of philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. From 1959 until 1966, he was the head of the university's philosophy department.[2] In 1976, the American Humanist Association designated him as a fellow for ''outstanding contributions to humanist thought in ethics and aesthetics.''[3]

Ames was a founding member of the American Society for Aesthetics, serving as its president from 1961–1962. He had also served as the president of the American Philosophical Association's Western Division from 1959–1960.[4] In 1965, Ames contributed to the Congressional bill that established the National Foundation for the Endowment of the Arts and Humanities and was a member of the national committee that founded it.[2]

Early life and education

Ames was born on July 9, 1898, in De Soto, Iowa. His father, Edward Scribner Ames, was a theologian and pastor who championed the philosophy of the Chicago school.[1] After the family moved to Chicago, Ames would go on to enroll in the University of Chicago, where he completed his PhD in philosophy with his dissertation, The Aesthetics of the Novel.

Awards and honors

In 1948, Ames was granted a Rockefeller grant.[4] In 1958, he was granted a Fullbright scholarship to study as a research professor in Japan.

In 1976, the American Humanist Association designated him as a Humanist fellow for Outstanding Contributions to Humanist Thought in Ethics and Aesthetics.[5]

Personal life

Ames was married to Betty Breneman, with whom he would have three children: Sanford Scribner Ames, Damaris Ames, and Christine Ames Cornish.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Hull 2013, p. 609.
  2. ^ a b "Finding aid for the Van Meter Ames Book Collection". ead.ohiolink.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  3. ^ "EDUCATOR VAN METER AMES, 87". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  4. ^ a b Duncan 1981, p. 99.
  5. ^ Mullane, Harvey (1986). "Van Meter Ames 1898 - 1985". Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association. 59 (3): 469–469. ISSN 0065-972X.
  6. ^ "Ames, Van Meter, 1898- - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved 2022-11-10.

Sources