Richard Wrangham

Richard Wrangham

Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Department of Anthropology
Richard Wrangham

Richard Wrangham is the Ruth Moore Professor of Anthropology. Professor Wrangham received a Ph.D. in Zoology from Cambridge University, where he studied under the renowned ethologist Robert Hinde. He served as a faculty member in departments of Anthropology, Psychology and Biology at several universities including Bristol University, Stanford University, King's College Cambridge and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.For several decades, Professor Wrangham has studied primates in the wild including several species of baboon and Vervet monkeys but his work on the ecological and behavior comparisons of chimpanzees and humans has been his greatest contribution to the animal behavior literature. His insights into the cultural similarities between humans and chimpanzees--including our unique tendencies to form murderous alliances and engage in recreational sexual activity--has had profound affects on how scientists analyze primate behavior, non-human and human alike. In addition to his exhaustive peer-reviewed journal publications, as author of Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence, Chimpanzee Cultures, and as co-editor of Primate Societies, Professor Wrangham's important observations and theoretical contributions to the field of primate socio-behavior are covered in a variety of works, which range from the textbook to popular science manual. In recent years, Professor Wrangham has been named as a trustee to several important primatological research organizations, including the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Jane Goodall Institute and is Chair of the Great Ape World Heritage Species Project. He is the current president of the International Primatological Society and his most recent awards and fellowships include the Baron-von-Swaine Award (University of Würzburg, 2000), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow (1993), Royal Anthropological Institute, Rivers Medal (1993).

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