It is with the utmost sadness that we confirm the death of our Tutorial Fellow in Modern Philosophy, Professor Dale Dorsey, on Monday 13th April 2026.
Somerville College was honoured to welcome Dale as our new Tutorial Fellow in Modern Philosophy in September 2025. Dale rapidly became known throughout college as an outstanding colleague, tutor and friend, who had just begun the next chapter in a deeply impressive career.
Dale came to us from the University of Kansas, where he rose to become both Chair and Dean’s Professor of Philosophy. He had been based at the University of Kansas from 2009, having previously taught at the Universities of Alberta and California, San Diego, where he also gained his PhD in 2007.
At the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Philosophy, Dale held the post of Professor of Moral Philosophy. His research focused mainly upon ethics, with a particular interest in the normative authority of morality to inform our lives and the history of ethics, especially the British Moralists from Hutcheson to Mill.
Dale was a prolific and highly regarded academic throughout his career. He published three full-length works, authored over 70 articles and monographs, and was in global demand as a lecturer. The titles alone of some of these works testify to the extraordinary breadth, wit and acuity of his thought, varying as they do from ‘The Hedonist’s Dilemma’ to ‘What’s Happiness Got to Do With It?’
Outside his academic work, Dale was a devoted husband and father and a keen amateur musician, who was often to be found digging through boxes of old LPs in local record shops. His next major work was entitled ’On Fellowship’, and will be published posthumously. It is a fitting title for so excellent a colleague, typifying the warmth and kindness of one who, despite being here with us for too short a time, shall be deeply missed.
Dale is survived by his wife Erin, their two children and a devoted extended family. Our thoughts are with them all, and especially his immediate loved ones, at this time.
Professor Dale Dorsey