Alumna anticipates Cambridge studies on Gates scholarship

After being named a 2007 Gates-Cambridge scholar, 2006 College alumna Kathryn Tabb will be studying next fall at Cambridge University—exactly where she wants to be.

“It is one of the best programs in the world for my field of study,” Tabb said of the graduate program in History and Philosophy of Science. “It’s such a specific interest that there are few departments specifically dedicated to it. I’m excited to be in a community of people who share my interests within history and philosophy.”

While enrolled at Chicago, Tabb found additional career inspiration while on a social service trip to Mexico in 2002, after which she began teaching at an adult education program for recent immigrants in Chicago.

Tabb is currently focusing on what she called a “radical and fascinating branch of my discipline—the philosophy of psychiatry and clinical psychology.”

She said, “In so doing, my intention is to re-conceptualize contemporary treatment and diagnostic practices in these fields.”

Tabb received an A.B. in History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science and Medicine from Chicago. She said she is looking forward to taking the knowledge she gained during her undergraduate career into her graduate career. “Like Chicago, Cambridge is a vibrant educational community, and I can’t wait to be there,” she said. Tabb is one of three 2006 Chicago graduates to receive the Gates Cambridge scholarship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Alumni Anyu Fang and Karen McClendon, also won the scholarships. (To read about Fang and McClendon, please see The University of Chicago Chronicle, March 1, 2007, Volume 26 No. 11.)