UNO Philosophy Program

Dr. Michael Gillespie was born and raised in Everett, Washington, then a milltown, on Puget Sound where the mountains are visible every day. He earned a B.A. from Whitman College where he discovered philosophy and literature as aspects of life. He studied philosophy at Southern Illinois University, emphasizing the history of philosophy, European philosophy and philosophy of art.

After coming to the University of Nebraska at Omaha over twenty-five years ago, Gillespie taught widely in philosophy, especially where he could learn most from his students and develop his conviction that philosophy is most itself when in contact with everyday life, other areas of study, and other traditions and cultures. His most important teaching interests were  in critical reasoning, history of philosophy, philosophy of art, the humanities, recent European philosophy, and environmental philosophy. His present research interests include reflective teaching and learning, the use of images in contemporary global culture, and the importance of place in responding to the deepening environmental crisis.

Gillespie had a lively interest in the interconnections of higher education and the surrounding community, especially education. He was  involved in "Prairie Visions," a Nebraska-wide project to enhance the teaching of art in public and parochial schools. He also won a number of awards for his work in art education.

Dr. Gillespie retired after the Fall 2001 semester and lives in  Seattle, Washington. He has a wife Diane, a son Gannon, and a daughter Gemma.

L. Duane Willard served the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Nebraska at Omaha as instructor, assistant professor and associate professor of Philosophy from 1965 until his retirement. He has been a graduate faculty member since 1985. During his years at UNO, he taught Introduction to Philosophy, Logic, Introduction to Ethics, History of Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Business Ethics, Contemporary Ethical Theories.

Duane served on the UNO Animal Welfare Committee, the Educational Policy and Honors Program Committees for the Arts and Sciences College. He was president of the UNO Chapter of the American Association of University Professors in 1976-77 and was chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion in 1979-82 and of the Humanities Chairs Committee for the Arts and Sciences College in 1980-82. He also serviced on the Dean's Advisory Committee (A & S College), UNO Faculty Senate, UNO Adjudicatory Committee and the Academic Vice-Chancellor's Task Force on University Requirements.

When not teaching, he made a number of presentations in the community. He was a Humanist Panelist, discussing "Functions of a Free Press" and "Do Newsmedia Tell the Truth" for the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities. He was a speaker on "Energy and the Good Life" for the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities. He also spoke on "American Issues Form" and "Technology and Confidentiality for the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities, Omaha Optimist Club and Kiwanis Club . He was a panelist for The Riverfront Forum in 1975. He was producer of the TV Classroom, "Philosophy at Work," for KMTV and KYNE-TV in 1974 and a speaker on "Rights in the '80s -- Religious Rights" for the TV Classroom in 1982. He served on an advisory committee on drug dependency for Omaha Awareness in Action in 1974. Other presentations he made included  "The Question of Prayer in Public Schools" and "Are There Animal Rights."

Duane received A.B. degrees from Tennessee Temple College and Baylor University. He received his M. Div. in 1961 from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a M.S. (Philosophy (a.b.d.) in 1964 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He has been published in the Journal of Value Inquiry, Philosophy Research Archives, Bicentennial Symposium of Philosophy: Contributed Papers, Dialogue, Business and Professional Ethics, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, Westminster Institute Review, Profits and Professions and Dialogue. He presented papers at the Mountain-Plains Philosophical Conference, Rocky Mountain-great Plains Regional Meeting, American Academy of Religion; Bicentennial Symposium of Philosophy, Conference on Utopias and Communes, Conference on Business and Professional Ethics, Central States Philosophical Conference, and Tenth Interamerican Congress of Philosophy.

Duane Willard died Thursday, 11 October 2007 after a lengthy illness at Branson, Missouri, where he moved after his retirement.

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