David Chalmers receives top Chancellor's Award

In the December 2013 graduation ceremonies, Professor David Chalmers from the School of Philosophy was presented with the University’s top award for 2013.

Professor Chalmers is the recipient of the 2013 Chancellor’s Peter Baume Award, which recognises eminent achievement and merit of the highest order. The award is named after former ANU Chancellor, Professor the Hon. Peter Baume AC and this is the first time an academic from social sciences has received it. 

Professor Chalmers received the award in recognition of his outstanding world-class scholarship, research leadership and contribution to the field of philosophy.

This caps off a stellar year for Chalmers. In a survey conducted by Philosophy Now early in 2013, he was rated the second most influential philosopher in the world. He was also elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is only the third ANU academic in any discipline to receive this honour.

Professor Chalmers is also deeply involved in graduate studies at ANU through organising seminars, working on creating the Philosophy HDR introductory course, and supervising PhD students.

Some of Professor Chalmers’ other recent achievements include delivering the John Locke lecture at Oxford University in 2010. He is author of The Conscious Mind, one of the most cited and most influential philosophy books of the last fifty years. In 2004 Chalmers founded the ANU Centre for Consciousness.