Stephen C. Stearns (born December 12, 1946, in

Kapaau, Hawaii Kapa'au ( haw, Kapaau) is an unincorporated community in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. Located at the northern tip of the big island of Hawaii, it is celebrated as the birthplace of Kamehameha I. For statistical purposes, the United St ...

and raised in

Hawi, Hawaii Hawi ( haw, Hāwī; ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii. The population was 2,268 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Hawi is situated to the west of the community of Kapaau. Together, they comprise the mo ...

) is an American biologist, and the Edward P. Bass Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Emeritus at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

. He is known for his work in

life history theory Life history theory is an analytical frameworkVitzthum, V. (2008). Evolutionary models of women's reproductive functioning. ''Annual Review of Anthropology'', ''37'', 53-73 designed to study the diversity of life history strategies used by differen ...

and

evolutionary medicine Evolutionary medicine or Darwinian medicine is the application of modern evolutionary theory to understanding health and disease. Modern biomedical research and practice have focused on the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying he ...

Education and training

* BA

1967 * MSc

University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

1971 * PhD

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

1975 * Miller Fellow

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

1978

Investment in Infrastructure

* Helped to found the

European Society for Evolutionary Biology The European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) was founded in 1987 in Basel (Switzerland) with around 450 evolutionary biologists attending the inaugural congress. It is an academic society that brings together more than 1500 evolutionary bi ...

(ESEB) in 1987.. He later served on its council and as its president. * Founded the

Journal of Evolutionary Biology The ''Journal of Evolutionary Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published monthly covering the field of evolutionary biology. It is owned by the European Society for Evolutionary Biology. The founding editor-in-chief was Stephen C ...

, ESEB's main journal, served as its first managing editor from 1986 to 1991, and later served on its Editorial Board. * With Tim Clutton-Brock, founded the Tropical Biology Association in 1991. * Founded the online open-access journal ''Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health'' in 2013.

Awards and honors

* 1987: Elected Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. * 1993: European Chair of Biology at the École normale supérieure, Paris. * 2000: Clarion Award from the

Association for Women in Communications The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry. History Theta Sigma Phi The Association for Women in Communications began in 1909 as Theta Sigma Phi (), an ho ...

for a book he wrote with his wife, Beverly Peterson Stearns, ''Watching, from the Edge of Extinction.'' * 2000: Distinguished Ecologist,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. * 2004: Raymond Pearl Memorial Lecturer, Human Biology Association. * 2005: Fellow, Konrad Lorenz Institute. * 2005: Fellow, Rockefeller Bellagio Conference and Study Center. * 2005: Honorary Member of the Swiss Zoological Society. * 2007: Fellow, European Society for Evolutionary Biology. * 2011: DeVane Medal for distinction in undergraduate teaching, Yale University Phi Beta Kappa. * 2011–2012: Fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin * 2015: Honorary Doctorate, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Zurich. * 2021: Yale College Harwood F. Byrnes/Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize

Positions

* 1978–1983: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology,

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

* 1983–2000: Professor of Zoology,

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...

. * 1986–1991: Managing Editor, Journal of Evolutionary Biology * 1991–1998: President, Tropical Biology Association. * 1994–1998: Chair,

European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that promotes the highest quality science ...

Program in Population Biology. * 1995: Vice president of the

Society for the Study of Evolution The Society for the Study of Evolution is a professional organization of evolutionary biologists. It was formed in the United States in 1946 to promote evolution and the integration of various fields of science concerned with evolution and to organ ...

* 1995–1996: Dean, Faculty of Science,

* 2002–2005: Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University * 2000–present: Edward P. Bass Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,

Selected publications

;Books * ''The Evolution of Sex and its Consequences'' (Birkhaeuser 1987) * ''The Evolution of Life Histories'' (Oxford University Press 1992) * ''Evolution in Health and Disease'' (Oxford University Press 1999, 2nd Ed with Jacob Koella 2007)
''Watching, from the Edge of Extinction''
(first author Beverly Peterson Stearns, Yale University Press 1999) * ''Evolution, an Introduction'' (with Rolf Hoekstra, Oxford University Press 2000, 2nd Ed 2005) * ''Evolutionary Medicine'' (with Ruslan Medzhitov, Sinauer 2016) ;Papers *. *. *. *. *.

References

External links

Stearns' web site
at

Stearns' introductory course ''Principles of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior''
at Open Yale Courses
Evolution and Medicine (2015) with Stephen Stearns, YouTube''Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health''
at

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Stephen C. Living people 1946 births 21st-century American biologists Yale University faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Yale University alumni Evolutionary biologists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Academic staff of the University of Basel