Best Primatology
Frans de Waal (1948–2024) was a Dutch-American primatologist and ethologist who served as C. H. Candler Professor of Primate Behavior at Emory University and director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. His research demonstrated empathy, cooperation, reciprocit...
Richard Wrangham is a British primatologist and biological anthropologist who serves as the Ruth B. Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. He is known for his long-term behavioral research on chimpanzees in Uganda, where he co-founded the Kibale Chimpanzee Project in 1987....
Sherwood Washburn was an American physical anthropologist who taught at institutions including the University of California, Berkeley. He is recognized for his role in establishing the New Physical Anthropology in the 1950s, a paradigm shift that moved the field away from descriptive racial taxonomy...
Sarah Hrdy is an American anthropologist, evolutionary psychologist, and primatologist whose research revolutionized the study of female primate behavior. She is widely recognized for challenging male-centric evolutionary theories, emphasizing the active roles of female agency, sexual selection, and...
Adrienne Zihlman is an American anthropologist known for primate and human evolution research and for coediting the 1978 volume Woman the Gatherer.
Alison Richard is a British primatologist and anthropologist who led Cambridge as vice-chancellor from 2004 to 2010 and studied Madagascar sifakas.
Dian Fossey was an American biologist renowned for her pioneering research on mountain gorillas in Rwanda. She dedicated decades to observing these primates, meticulously documenting their behavior and social structures. Her intensive fieldwork dramatically advanced primatology’s understanding of gr...
Birute Galdikas is a Canadian primatologist renowned for her extensive fieldwork studying wild orangutans in Borneo. She initiated the longest continuous study of these animals, providing unparalleled insights into their behavior, social structures, and ecological needs. Her immersive observational...
