Rachell Powell is a professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at the College of Arts & Sciences.
Powell holds advanced degrees in philosophy of science, evolutionary biology and law. She received her B.A. in philosophy (summa cum laude, phi beta kappa) from SUNY Binghamton (1999), a Juris Doctor (with honors) from NYU Law School (2002), and a PhD in Philosophy and M.S. in Biology from Duke University (2009). Prior to commencing graduate work in philosophy, then R. Powell, Esq. worked as an attorney (Associate) in the New York office of the global law firm Skadden Arps on complex pharmaceutical liability litigation.
As a result of her diverse background, Powell’s academic interests are wide-ranging and highly interdisciplinary. She has published in areas ranging from the philosophy of biology and bioethics to political and legal philosophy, in journals such as British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Biology and Philosophy, European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, American Journal of Bioethics, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Journal of Political Philosophy, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. In addition to continuing work on conceptual and methodological problems in evolutionary theory, Dr. Powell actively researches and publishes on the epistemological and metaphysical dimensions of debates in contemporary bioethics, especially in relation to emerging biotechnologies.
Powell has held fellowships at the National Humanities Center, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, the Berlin School of Mind and Brain at Humboldt University, and the Center for Genetic Engineering and Society at North Carolina State University.
She has been a Principal Investigator on collaborative and solo grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. From 2011-2016 she was as Associate Editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics (British Medical Journal Group), and she is currently serving as an Associate Editor of Philosophy & Technology.