Professor and Virginia M Ullman Chair in Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Founding Director, Institute of Human Origins

SHESC Themes: Biological, Social and Cultural Dimensions of Human Health; Culture, Heritage and Identity; Global Dynamics and Regional Interactions; Human Origins, Evolution and Diversity

Field Specializations: Paleoanthropology, Physical Anthropology

Education

Ph.D., University of Chicago

Bio

Research:
Donald C. Johanson is the Founding Director of the Institute of Human Origins. For the past 30 years, he has conducted field and laboratory research in paleoanthropology. Most notably, he discovered the 3.18 million year old hominid skeleton popularly known as "Lucy." Through grants from the National Science Foundation, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, and the National Geographic Society, Johanson has carried out field research in Ethiopia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Tanzania. He is an Honorary Board Member of the Explorers Club, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of many other professional organizations and recipient of several international prizes and awards. In 1975, Dr. Johanson was appointed curator of physical anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and, beginning in 1976, developed a laboratory of physical anthropology that attracted scholars from all over the world.

He has written, among other books, the widely read "Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind" (with Maitland Edey), 1991, and numerous scientific and popular articles. In 1994, he co-wrote "Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins" and narrated a companion NOVA television series seen by more than 100 million people worldwide. Most recently, he published "From Lucy to Language" (with Blake Edgar, principal photography by David Brill), 1996. Johanson is a frequent lecturer at university and other forums in the United States and abroad.

Publications

Kimbel, W. H., Lockwood, C. A., Ward, C. V., Leakey, M. G., Rak, Y. & Johanson, D. C. (2006). Was Australopithecus anamensis ancestral to Australopithecus afarensis? A case of anagensis in the hominin fossil record. Journal of Human Evolution, 50(2), 134-152.

Drapeau, M. S. M., Ward, C. V., Kimbel, W. H., Johanson, D. C. & Rak, Y. (2005). Associated cranial and forelimb remains attributed to Australopithecus afarensis from Hadar, Ethiopia. Journal of Human Evolution, 48(6), 593-642.

Johanson, D. C. (2004). Thirty years later: An expanded view of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research, 60(4).

Kimbel, W. H., Rak, Y. & Johanson, D. C. (2004). The skull of Australopithecus afarensis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.