Bakan, Mildred

• Blynn, Millie

Mildred Bakan (15 October 1922-7 August 2010) , Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Social Science at York University, was an author, teacher, scholar, and community activist, and was one of the first female philosophy academics in Canada.

Born in New York City, she moved to Iowa City to obtain a MA in Psychology (1945) from the State University in Iowa. Four years later, she completed a PhD in philophy from Ohio State University. During this time, she married David Bakan in 1948 with whom she would have six children. From 1968 until her retirement she taught philosophy and social science at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

Bakan's areas of research interest included phenomenology and Marxism, political economy, history and philosophy of science, German classical idealism, and issues in political ecology. Her service to the community included involvement with the Multi-Age Group unit (an experimental school under the administration of the North York Board of Education), the North York Seed (an extra curricular high school program), and the Advisory Board City School (an alternative high school under the administration of the Toronto Board of Education).

She was a member of the following honor societies: the Phi Beta Kappa, the Sigma Xi (honorary science), and the PiMu Epsilon (honorary mathematics).

2019/03/14 KCP. Created minimal biographical sketch.
2019/03/25 KCP. Expanded biographical sketch based on CV in fonds.