Mary L. Rigdon to Become Freedom Center director

Mary L. Rigdon will become director of the University of Arizona Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, effective Jan. 1. She has been associate director since 2021 and succeeds David Schmidtz, who founded the center in 2009. The transition launches a new chapter in the center's internationally acclaimed research, publications and programs.

"The ideals of the Freedom Center – freedom and responsibility – are two rich areas of exploration for those of us in a university environment, both philosophically and practically. Through research, education and meaningful engagement with community, the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom advances critical thinking and transdisciplinary discussion on these topics," said Elizabeth "Betsy" Cantwell, senior vice president for research and innovation. "We are grateful for Dr. Schmidtz's many years of leadership and look forward to working closely with Dr. Rigdon as we continue delivering on the Freedom Center's mission."

The center, also known as the Freedom Center, is an academic resource for leaders seeking to understand how to address society's biggest challenges by facilitating critical thinking about freedom and responsibility, and about justice and the good society. Housed under the Office of Research, Innovation, and Impact, the center promotes the understanding and appreciation of the ideals of freedom and responsibility along four dimensions: published research, undergraduate education, graduate education and community engagement. It studies how philosophy, economics, political science, law and ethics influence human behavior. It houses academic programs, scholarly publications and public engagement opportunities.

• Working with the James E. Rogers College of Law, the center offers a concentration in law and economics for the Master of Legal Studies degree, a one-year online degree program that provides a greater understanding of law and regulation, economic theory, and empirical methods.
• The center supports prominent journals and their corresponding workshops, including: Social Philosophy & Policy, Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy, Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, and Politics, Philosophy & Economics.
• The center hosts high-profile free public events where leaders address current events and engage with the audience, including the Public Discussion Forum moderated issue panels addressing industry and societal challenges and Voices of Culture, a nonpartisan, broad-based academic forum that values diversity of thought and background, openness and insight, and depth of understanding, presented in partnership with the UArizona American Culture and Ideas Initiative.
• To support secondary education and promote financial literacy, the center sponsors Take Charge Today, a free program and curriculum for high school educators to help students understand how to manage money to improve their well-being.

In addition to serving as the Freedom Center director, Rigdon will continue her role as an associate professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is also an affiliate in the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science at George Mason University and an affiliate in the Center for Population-Level Bioethics at Rutgers University. Rigdon's research includes projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan. Her recent research on gender differences in competitiveness and the gender wage gap has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Evolution and Human Behavior. Her research has also been published in the Economic Journal, Experimental Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and Review of Behavioral Economics. Rigdon received her Ph.D. in economics and mechanism design from the University of Arizona in 2001. 

Please see the attached news release for more information or visit freedomcenter.arizona.edu.