Nancy S. Jecker


Nancy Ann Silbergeld Jecker is a bioethicist, philosopher, and author. She is Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Bioethics and Humanities, with Adjunct Professorships at the university's Department of Philosophy, School of Law, and Department of Global Health. She also holds visiting professorships at the University of Johannesburg, Gauteng South Africa and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics

Education

Jecker earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Stanford University, and master's degrees in philosophy from both Stanford University and the University of Washington. She was awarded the PhD in philosophy from the University of Washington

Academic work

Jecker has published over 200 journal articles and chapters and 5 books. Her research focuses on justice, personhood and human dignity, individual and societal aging, medical futility, and global perspectives in philosophy and bioethics. Jecker's 2025 book, ' proposes an emergent view of personhood that builds on insights from African and Western philosophy. Jecker’s 2020 book, ', coined the term, 'midlife bias,' to refer to the privileging of midlife values across the lifespan. Her other books include Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients and Futile Treatment, 2nd Edition co-edited with Lawrence Schneiderman ; Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and Practice, 3rd edition, co-edited with Albert Jonsen and Robert Pearlman ; and Aging and Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology.
Jecker was elected . She was a two time recipient of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science International Fellow award and a three time Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship awardee. Jecker was a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Centre for Biomedical Ethics ; Scholar-in-residence at the Brocher Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland ; visiting professor at The University of Bucharest Research Institute, Romania ; and keynote speaker at the Israeli Ministry of Health.
Jecker was elected to the board of directors for the International Association of Bioethics and to the board of directors for the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

Books

  • Jecker NS, Atuire CA, 2025. What is a Person? Untapped Insights from Africa. Oxford University Press. .
  • Jecker NS, 2020. Ending Midlife Bias: New Values for Old Age, Oxford University Press. ISBN 1160068704
  • Schneiderman LJ, Jecker NS, 2021, 2015, 2011, and 1995. Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients, and Futile Treatment, Johns Hopkins University Press. Japanese translation by Keiso Shobo Publishing Company, Toky. Chinese translation by Ho-Chi Book Publishing Company, New Taipei City,. E-Book by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Jecker NS, Jonsen AR, Pearlman RA, editors, 2011, 2007, and 1997. Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and Practice, Jones and Bartlett Publishers ISBN 9780763785529
  • Jecker Nancy S, editor, 1991. Aging and Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology. Humana Press. . E-Book by Springer Publishers

Most cited journal articles

  • Schneiderman LJ, Jecker NS, Jonsen AR. Medical futility: its meaning and ethical implications. Annals of internal medicine. 1990 Jun 15;112:949-54.
  • Schneiderman LJ, Jecker NS, Jonsen AR. Medical futility: response to critiques. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1996 Oct 15;125:669-74.
  • Jecker NS, Self DJ. Separating care and cure: An analysis of historical and contemporary images of nursing and medicine. The Journal of medicine and philosophy. 1991 Jun 1;16:285-306. Cited144 times.
  • Shah SK, Miller FG, Darton TC, Duenas D, Emerson C, Lynch HF, Jamrozik E, Jecker NS, Kamuya D, Kapulu M, Kimmelman J. Ethics of controlled human infection to address COVID-19. Science. 2020 May 22;368:832-4.
  • Jecker NS. You've got a friend in me: sociable robots for older adults in an age of global pandemics. Ethics and Information Technology. 2020 Jul 16:1-9. Cited 32 times.
  • Jecker NS. Nothing to be ashamed of: sex robots for older adults with disabilities. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2021 Jan 1;47:26-32.