Carol Gilligan, a university professor at New York University, has received the 2025 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy from the Inamori Foundation in Japan. Presented annually to three recipients, the international prize recognizes individuals whose scientific, technological, or cultural advancements have benefited humankind. Laureates of the Kyoto Prize receive 100 million yen – equivalent to some $679,000 based on current exchange rates.
Dr. Gilligan is a leading scholar of feminist thought. In her landmark book, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development (Harvard University Press, 1982), she notes that women’s ways of thinking, which are often relationship-oriented, offer rich insights into moral reasoning, especially in contrast to men’s ways of thinking. Throughout her career, she has continued to critique modern Western ethics and conventional psychological theories, inspiring new perspectives for addressing global societal challenges like women’s empowerment and the welfare of the elderly and disabled. In total, Dr. Gilligan has published ten books and one play. Her most recent monograph, In a Human Voice (Polity Press, 2023), returns to the subject matter of her first book, re-examining its central arguments through a contemporary viewpoint.
Before joining the NYU faculty in 2002, Dr. Gilligan was a faculty member at Harvard for over three decades, where she was the Ivy League institution’s first professor of gender studies. During the 1992-1993 academic year, she was the Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at the University of Cambridge in England.
Dr. Gilligan is an honors graduate of Swarthmore College, where she majored in English literature. She holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Radcliffe College and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University.