A colleague at Duke University Press, publisher of many of her books, said in an online tribute, “From the start of her career Sandra Harding was a model of a visionary thinker. She would change a field—philosophy, women’s studies, education, science and technology studies—and then move on to the next.”

Dr. Harding joined the Delaware faculty as an assistant professor of philosophy in 1976. She was promoted to associate professor in 1979 and full professor in 1986. She received a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology in 1981. During her tenure at UD, she also served as  visiting professor at Universiteit van Amsterdam and the University of Costa Rica.

From 1985-89 and 1990-92, Dr. Harding directed UD’s Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program, which would go on to become the Department of Women and Gender Studies. In Beneath Thy Guiding Hand: A History of Women at the University of Delaware, historian Carol Hoffecker writes that “the success of the program also owed a great deal to the administrative savvy and conviction of several faculty members,” among them Dr. Harding.

She retired from UD in 1998 and then took a position at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she taught until 2014..

Colleagues remember

Several of Dr. Harding’s colleagues and friends shared their reflections.

Margaret Andersen, Rosenberg Professor Emerita of Sociology:

“Fifty years of friendship, building feminist scholarship, working to make the University a more inclusive place. I can’t think of anyone who had a more profound influence on me intellectually, politically or personally. She built feminist scholarship in philosophy and lived life as a change maker, collaborator and, when needed, conspirator. She was a major force in feminist thought. As much as so many of us will miss her, her thinking will continue to inspire future generations. Her work on gender,science and feminist thought lives on. Be at peace, my dear friend…”

Anne Boylan, professor emerita of history:

"Sandra Harding was a visionary, both through her scholarly work in feminist philosophy and through her dynamic leadership of the UD Women's Studies Program. I know I am only one of many colleagues who benefited from her energetic, welcoming presence on campus and her commitment to bringing people together for serious inquiry, informed conversation, and yes, fun."

Jessica Schiffman, retired assistant professor and associate chair in the Department of Women and Gender Studies:

“First of all, Sandra was a tremendous force in moving Women's Studies from the margins to the center. She was relentless in recruiting new faculty members to teach courses cross-listed with what was then a program with no full-time faculty. Karen Rosenberg of Anthropology has a wonderful story of how Sandra got her on board.

“She was fierce in her desire to see women taken seriously as creators of knowledge. She had a great sense of humor that helped her to face the barriers put in her way. She knew how and where to put her prodigious intelligence and energy to move the needle forward for the study of women and study by women at a time when both were considered contentious, as they sadly appear to be again. We'll continue to need leaders like Sandra to fight to keep women at the center.

“Lastly, I am forever grateful that Sandra took a chance in hiring me as program coordinator. It was the beginning of the growth in our field and an exciting time to work with such an inspiring role model.”

Claire Rasmussen, associate professor of political science and international relations:

“I knew Professor Harding through her work as a feminist philosopher and through one of my graduate mentors, Nancy Hartsock, who was another foundational figure in standpoint epistemology and methodology. Harding's work is some of the earliest work in what is now Science and Technology Studies (STS) studying the way scientific knowledge is generated and shaped by social forces. Her work, drawing attention to the ways gender, race and colonial dynamics have shaped the formation of scientific disciplines, challenges the objectivity or ‘value-neutral’ view of scientific practices through a sociological study of how science is actually practiced. She described her work as speaking from the borders of institutional knowledge, as an insider deliberately perched on the margins to provide critical perspective, reflecting on what was not seen or thought from the center of the discipline. As a feminist scholar at a time where the institutional scaffolding did not yet exist to support her work, Harding and her generation had to build the disciplines within which they worked. She did this not only in her work but as an institution builder, creating spaces for other scholars as she did in leading UD's Women Studies Program and as an editor of two of the most prominent feminist journals--Hypatia and Signs--and in the field of Science and Technology Studies. I recall her attributing her intellectual success to stubbornness--a refusal to ever be satisfied with settled knowledge or to abandon the search for critical perspective. This stubbornness was no doubt necessary at a time when feminist scholarship was--at best--marginalized in academia and subsequent generations of feminist scholarship owe a great deal to her persistence in creating spaces for us to think.”

Alan Fox, professor of philosophy:

“Sandra Harding was already a prominent feminist philosopher when I was hired at UD in 1990. She  brought prestige to the department for sure, but in my first few years at the University, teaching a marginalized subject (Chinese philosophy), she was also an ardent advocate of my work, recognizing the importance of supporting marginalized research interests. I appreciated her support and her intelligence.  Since she left, we have not had a serious scholar of feminism in the department and I miss her contributions dearly.”