Debora Hammond - Biography

Biography

Debora Hammond received a B.A. in History in 1974 at Stanford University. During the Vietnam War era, she had spent half of her time studying systems theory, and exploring ways of thinking about complex systems that might support more participatory and inclusive forms of social organization. In 1991 she received an M.A. in History of science at the University of California in Berkeley, In May 1997 she completed her Ph.D. in the history of science again at the University of California at Berkeley with Professor Carolyn Merchant. Her dissertation research focused on the history of systems thinking, specifically the lives and work of the five founders of the Society for General Systems Research: Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, James Grier Miller, and Anatol Rapoport.

In 1996 Hammond got appointed to the Sonoma State University, where she joined the Hutchins faculty in the fall of 1997. In addition to teaching courses in the lower division integrated general education sequence, she has taught upper division seminars on such topics as "The Global Food Web"; Oikos; Ecology and Economics; Health and Healing; The Dharma of Complex Systems; Technology, Ecology, and Society; and about the "Systems View of the World". Her teaching revolves around the core issues of ecological sustainability and social justice how to create a healthy society that works for everyone. In 2004 and 2005 Debora Hammond participated in the Complex Systems Summer School at Santa Fe Institute. Her primary purpose was to enhance the quality of the conference program by integrating current developments in the field of complex systems}. In 2008, she was promoted Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University

From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Hammond has also been coordinating the Northern California Earth Institute, an organization that nurtures community dialogue on themes relating to the environment and sustainable living. In 2005–2006, Debora Hammond was the President of International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), in the year that the annual ISSS meeting was held at the Sonoma State University.

Debora Hammond finds much of her inspiration in the wilderness, which is reflected in her work on environmental philosophy and ethics. She believes that social justice depends upon our ability to find more harmonious ways of living with the natural world.