Carol Gilligan received an A.B. in English literature from Swarthmore College, a masters degree in clinical psychology from Radcliffe College and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University. Her landmark book In A Different Voice (1982) is described by Harvard University Press as “the little book that started a revolution.” Following In A Different Voice, she initiated the Harvard Project on Women's Psychology and Girls' Development and co-authored or edited 5 books with her students Mapping the Moral Domain (1988), Making Connections (1990), Women, Girls, and Psychotherapy: Reframing resistance (1991), Meeting at the Crossroads: Women's Psychology and Girls' Development, (1992) – a New York Times notable book of the year, and Between Voice and Silence: Women and Girls, Race and Relationships (1995).

She received a Senior Research Scholar award from the Spencer Foundation, a Grawemeyer Award for her contributions to education, a Heinz Award for her contributions to understanding the human condition and was named by Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential Americans. Following her research on women and girls’ development, she studied young boys and their parents and explored impasses in man-woman relationships.

The Strengthening Healthy Resistance and Courage in Girls programs, the Women Teaching Girls/Girls Teaching Women retreats, and the In Our Own Voices workshops she developed with her colleagues have become model intervention and prevention projects.

She was a member of the Harvard faculty for over 30 years and in 1997 became Harvard’s first professor of Gender Studies, occupying the Patricia Albjerg Graham chair. In 1992, she was Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at the University of Cambridge. In 2002, she became University Professor at New York University, with affiliations in the School of Law, the Steinhardt School of Education, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her 2002 book The Birth of Pleasure, was described by The Times Literary Supplement as “a thrilling new paradigm.” She is currently teaching a seminar at the Law School on Resisting Injustice; an advanced research seminar on The Listening Guide Method of Psychological Inquiry; and a freshman honors seminar on love and law in Shakespeare's plays.

Professor Gilligan is a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge affiliated with the Centre for Gender Studies and with Jesus College. Her play, “The Scarlet Letter” will be presented as part of the 2007 WomenCenterStage festival in New York City and will be produced by The Culture Project next year. Her monologue, "My House is Wallpapered with Lies," was performed as part of the June 2006 V-Day festival, "Until the Violence Stops: NYC". Her recent publications include: “On The Listening Guide: A Voice Centered, Relational Method,” “Recovering Psyche: Reflections on Life History and History," and most recently, "When the mind leaves the body...and returns" (Daedalus, summer 2006).

CRG Advisory Panelist, Prof. Carol Gilligan