Catherine Zuckert

Catherine Herdis Heldt Zuckert^[1] (born 1942) is an American political philosopher and Reeves Dreux Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame.

Catherine Zuckert
Born	1942 Florida, USA
Spouse	Michael Zuckert ​ (m. 1965)​
Education
Education	BA, 1964, Cornell University MA, PhD, political science, 1970, University of Chicago
Thesis	The morality of history: a study of Friedrich Nietzsche's untimely meditations (1970)
Philosophical work
Era	21st-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
Institutions	Carleton College Claremont McKenna College University of Notre Dame
Website	sites.nd.edu/catherine-zuckert/

Early life and education

Zuckert was born in 1942^[2] to parents Agneta Dahm Christensen and Henning Heldt.^[3] Her father worked for the Miami Herald before he died in 1950, while her mother worked as a high school registrar.^[4] While attending Miami Senior High School, Zuckert was named Florida's Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow after receiving the highest grade in a written examination on homemaking knowledge and attitudes in Florida.^[5] As a result of the award, she received a $1,500 scholarship and met then-Vice President Richard Nixon at a reception held in her honor.^[6] At her high school graduation, she was recognized as an "outstanding high school senior."^[4]

Zuckert completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at Cornell University, where her future husband Michael Zuckert also attended.^[1] While enrolled at Cornell in 1964, Zuckert received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.^[7][8] Upon graduating, Zuckert and her husband enrolled at the University of Chicago for their PhDs in political science.^[1] They both studied under political philosopher Leo Strauss while at the University of Chicago.^[9]

Career

In 1976, the Zuckerts joined the political science department at Claremont McKenna College as visiting associate professors.^[10]

The Zuckerts chose to accept professor positions at the University of Notre Dame in 1998, as the school was one of the few interested in hiring senior women faculty.^[11] After retiring from Notre Dame, they chose to became visiting scholars at Arizona State University's School for Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership.^[3]

Personal life

Zuckert is of Danish descent.^[3] She married her husband, Michael, on September 11, 1965.^[1]

Books

• Postmodern Platos (University of Chicago Press, 1996)
• Natural Right and the American Imagination: Political Philosophy in Novel Form
• Plato's Philosophers: The Coherence of the Dialogues (University of Chicago Press, 2009)
• Machiavelli's Politics (University of Chicago Press, 2017)
• The Truth about Leo Strauss (2006) with Michael P. Zuckert, University of Chicago Press
• Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy (2014) with Michael P. Zuckert, University of Chicago Press

Edited

• Understanding the Political Spirit: From Socrates to Nietzsche
• Political Philosophy in the 20th Century: Authors and Arguments (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
• Leo Strauss on Political Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, 2018)