Congratulations to John Mitani, professor emeritus of anthropology! 

The American Association of Biological Anthropologists has awarded Mitani the 2022 Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achivement Award. 

 

Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award

The recipient of this year’s Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award is Professor Emeritus John Mitani, University of Michigan. This award recognizes and honors distinguished senior members of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. Dr. Mitani’s research concentrates on understanding the behavior of living apes. He has conducted research on gibbons, siamangs, orangutans, gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees, a rare accomplishment. His research has consistently provided new and provocative findings about the biology and behavior of these taxa, while contributing key insights into human evolution and adaptation.Professor Mitani’s nomination materials reflected on his accomplishments and their profound importance. For example, nominators noted that Dr. Mitani’s "work has led to significant advances in our knowledge of the socioecology and behavior of chimpanzees and has provided decades of high-quality empirical data to test long-standing hypotheses concerning ape, and by extension human, reproduction, feeding and ranging, hunting, territoriality, kinship and friendship.” His colleagues further recognized his balance as a scholar and colleague by emphasizing his major contributions to student training (and thus the future of the discipline). Nominators highlighted service contributions that range from departmental to disciplinary contributions.