Legendary Biologist, Pulitzer Winner E.O. Wilson to Visit UA as Scholar-in-Residence

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. E.O. Wilson, a University of Alabama alumnus and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is widely considered one of the world’s most influential scientists, will visit UA as a scholar-in-residence with the College of Arts and Sciences Sept. 11-12.

As part of his visit, Wilson will kick off the 2012-2013 Alabama Lectures on Life’s Evolution, or ALLELE, Lecture Series with his talk, “The Social Conquest of Earth” Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bryant Conference Center’s Sellers Auditorium.

The lecture is open to the public, and Wilson will sign copies of his books following the lecture.

He will also address students in the College’s Blount Undergraduate Initiative at a convocation Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. in Morgan Auditorium.

Wilson, a native of Birmingham and childhood resident of the Gulf Coast, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological sciences from UA. He received his doctorate from Harvard University, and he taught there for more than 40 years as the Joseph Pellegrino University Research Professor in Entomology. He now lives in Lexington, Mass.

He is the author of more than 28 books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Ants” and “The Naturalist.” His next release, scheduled to debut later this year, is a profile of his boyhood hometown, “Why We Are Here: Mobile and the Spirit of a Southern City.”

Wilson is most recognized for his work in entomology – the study of insects. His lifelong passion for studying ants in particular has made him the definitive expert on the tiny creatures and on the social structures of all animals. Wilson is considered the founder of the theory of sociobiology, which proposes that human and animal behavior is shaped by evolutionary forces, and its offshoot, evolutionary psychology. He also has developed the base of modern biodiversity conservation.

During this visit, Wilson will be honored by the Alabama Humanities Foundation for his contribution to the humanities through his extensive writings. He will address the AHF at their annual luncheon Sept. 10 in Birmingham and will give the keynote address, “On the Origin of the Human Condition.”

Wilson has been recognized with more than 100 international awards. He is a recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; the International Prize of Biology of Japan; and the Nonino and Serono Prizes for Letters and Sciences of Italy. In 1995 he was named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential people in America.

While on campus, Wilson will also meet with students and faculty in the biological sciences and philosophy departments, as well as with UA administrators.

The 2012-2013 ALLELE series is an interdisciplinary lecture series organized by the Evolution Working Group and supported by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors College, Blount Undergraduate Initiative, New College, Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology and Counseling, and the departments of anthropology, biology, chemistry, English, gender and race studies, geological sciences, history, philosophy, psychology, and telecommunications and film.

The ALLELE Lecture Series and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative are part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.