
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920;
cgonzal@unm.edu
Oct. 3, 2006
Chimpanzee Culture Expert Presents Jar Lecture at UNM
William C. McGrew, one of the world's top experts in chimpanzee culture, presents the 23rd Journal of Anthropological Research Distinguished Lecture, “New Wine in New Bottles: Prospects & Pitfalls of Cultural Primatology,” on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in UNM Anthropology Lecture Hall (room 163). The lecture will be followed by a specialized seminar, “Thirty-five Years of Chasing Chimpanzees: Lessons Learned & New Findings,” on Friday, Nov. 10, at noon in Anthropology room 178. Both the lecture and seminar are free and open to the public.
McGrew has studied chimpanzee behavior in the wild since 1974, conducting fieldwork in both East and especially West Africa.
He has degrees in zoology, child psychology and anthropology. He earned his doctorate from the University of Stirling in Scotland, where he also taught. He taught at UNM in 1986.
McGrew is currently a lecturer in biological anthropology at the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. He was a distinguished professor at Miami University of Ohio, and recently has been a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and at the University of California in Berkeley.
Among his awards is the Prix Delwart of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences. McGrew has followed in the footsteps of Jane Goodall in his emphasis on long-term field observations of chimpanzees and their learned cultural behaviors in natural habitats in Africa. His work on chimp tool-use is central to the debate about the nature of the fine line between humans and their closest living relatives. His interdisciplinary approach to the study of chimps is unusual and provides a broad perspective on our ‘sister' species.
McGrew has published six books since 1972. Most recently Cambridge University Press released his book, “The Cultured Chimpanzee: Reflections on Cultural Primatology.” Since 1969, McGrew has published more than 160 articles in many of the world's most prestigious journals of zoology, ethology and anthropology, and in numerous edited volumes. He has also published about 170 reviews, notes and comments. His work has been supported by numerous grants from such institutions and foundations as the U.S. National Science Foundation, Leakey Foundation, Max-Planck Gesellschaft, UK Science Research Council, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Royal Society and American Philosophical Society.
A dynamic speaker, McGrew has given many guest lectures and symposia presentations around the world. He has been a mentor to many graduate students over the years, making a major contribution to the training of a new generation of primatologists – especially chimpanzee specialists.
Both rooms are wheelchair accessible. The Anthropology Building is on the UNM campus east of Redondo Road between Martin Luther King and Roma.
The “Journal of Anthropological Research” has been published quarterly by UNM since 1945. To subscribe, call 277-4544. Individual subscriptions are $30 for 600 pages of peer-reviewed articles in all areas of anthropology, plus book reviews.
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