Ann Congleton

Ann Congleton is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Wellesley College where she taught the history of philosophy, particularly Plato and Aristotle and feminist theory. She also taught the history of medieval and modern philosophy and the philosophy of business.

Ms. Congleton was the founder and Director of Wellesley's innovative Cluster Program, which she initiated in 1982 during one of her terms as Director of the Education, Research, and Development Committee. Introduced into the curriculum in 1984, this interdisciplinary program offered first year students an opportunity to work closely with core faculty and with classmates, focusing on a particular topic or historic era and drawing connections between the concerns of six disciplines within that topic or period. The first cluster focused on mid-Nineteenth century Europe, other topics included the High Middle Ages, the United States in the early Twentieth Century, and Judaism, Christianity, Paganism and Islam in the Mediterranean World in the late Hellenistic period.

A member of the Wellesley faculty from 1964 to 2010, Ms. Congleton was awarded the college's Pinanski Prize for excellence in teaching in 1986. She was cited as one who teaches "in the true Socratic tradition; training the mind rather than dispensing knowledge."

Ms. Congleton was graduated from Wellesley in 1958 and received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University in 1960 and 1962 respectively. Before coming to Wellesley she did research on the computer translation of language at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ms. Congleton is a member of various professional organizations including the American Philosophical Association, and the Society of Women in Philosophy. She served on most of the major committees of Academic Council and as Chair of the Department of Philosophy. Chair of the Nominating Committee for Academic Council at Wellesley, Ms. Congleton was active on numerous other campus committees including the Presidential Search Committee, the Appointments Committee, the Committee on Educational Research and Development, and the Nominating Committee.

Ann Congleton and her husband Francis G. Hutchins are residents of Brookline, Massachusetts. They are the parents of two daughters, Edith and Esther Mira.