Thinkers

Mortimer Adler

Also Known As Mortimer Jerome Adler

Great Books Program Co-Developer

Citation Formats

General Reference

Education Atlas. "Mortimer Adler." Accessed August 29, 2026. https://dev-education.interactiveatlas.org/thinkers/mortimer-adler.

APA Style

Education Atlas. (n.d.). Mortimer Adler. Retrieved August 29, 2026, from https://dev-education.interactiveatlas.org/thinkers/mortimer-adler

BibTeX

@misc{educationatlas-mortimer-adler,
  author = {Education Atlas},
  title = {Mortimer Adler},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-education.interactiveatlas.org/thinkers/mortimer-adler},
  note = {Accessed August 29, 2026}
}

Mortimer Jerome Adler (1902-2001) was an American philosopher and educator hired in 1930 by Robert Hutchins as Professor of the Philosophy of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. With Hutchins he co-founded the Great Books of the Western World program and the Great Books Foundation, working within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions central to educational perennialism.

Facts

Birth Date

1902-12-28 1

Birth Year

1902 1

Death Date

2001-06-28 1

Death Year

2001 1

Birthplace

Manhattan, New York City 1

Death Place

San Mateo, California 1

Nationality / Culture

American 1

Defining Contribution

Co-developed the Great Books of the Western World program and Great Books Foundation with Robert Hutchins; his philosophical work situated within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions, and he developed the Paideia Proposal for educational reform. 1

Notable Work

Aristotle for Everybody (1978) 1

Notable Work

How to Read a Book (1940) 1

Cross-Tradition Connections