Patrick Derr

Prof. Derr received a B.A. from Seattle University in 1972 and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1976. He has been at Clark since that time. He is a research professor with the George Perkins Marsh Institute and with the programs in Ethics and Public Policy, Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) and Peace Studies. In 2007, Mr. Derr was awarded Clark's Senior Faculty Fellowship for excellence in teaching and research.

Prof. Derr's research interests are in the areas of medical ethics and health policy, philosophy of science, and environmental ethics and policy. As a member of the CENTED Hazards Group, he has been involved in interdisciplinary studies of radioactive waste management, occupational hazards, environmental hazard management and hazardous technology transfer.

Much of Mr. Derr's work is directed to the explication and analysis of ethical issues, particularly issues of justice or equity. His current writing focuses on ethical issues related to the conduct of biomedical research on human subjects in less developed countries, on questions of justice related to national energy policy, and on the application of emerging veterinary reproductive technologies to human beings. He teaches the graduate course on Philosophy of Science which may be selected by Environmental Science & Policy (ES&P)  M.A. students. He has been a mentor to several ES&P graduate students and has served as an advisor for master's theses. Mr. Derr is also available for graduate level reading courses on ethical issues.