Donald Carl Johanson (born June 28, 1943) is an American paleoanthropologist. He is best known for discovering the fossil of a female

hominin The Hominini (hominins) form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the genus '' Gorilla'' ( gorillas) ...

australopithecine The australopithecines (), formally Australopithecina or Hominina, are generally any species in the related genera of ''Australopithecus'' and ''Paranthropus''. It may also include members of '' Kenyanthropus'', ''Ardipithecus'', and '' Praeant ...

known as "

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

" in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia.

Biography

Early life and education

Johanson was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

to Swedish parents. He is the nephew of wrestler Ivar Johansson. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in 1966 and his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

(1970) and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(1974) from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. At the time of the discovery of Lucy, he was an associate professor of anthropology at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

. In 1981, he established the Institute of Human Origins in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, which he moved to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1997. Johanson holds an honorary doctorate from

and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Westfield State College in 2008.

"Lucy"

Lucy was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia on November 24, 1974, when Johanson, coaxed away from his paperwork by graduate student Tom Gray for a spur-of-the-moment survey, caught the glint of a white fossilized bone out of the corner of his eye and recognized it as hominin. Forty percent of the skeleton was eventually recovered and was later described as the first known member of ''

Australopithecus afarensis ''Australopithecus afarensis'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa. The first fossils were discovered in the 1930s, but major fossil finds would not ta ...

''. Johanson was astonished to find so much of her skeleton all at once. Pamela Alderman, a member of the expedition, suggested she be named "Lucy" after the Beatles' song " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," which was played repeatedly during the night of the discovery. A bipedal hominin, Lucy stood about three and a half feet tall; her bipedalism supported Raymond Dart's theory that

australopithecines The australopithecines (), formally Australopithecina or Hominina, are generally any species in the related genera of ''Australopithecus'' and ''Paranthropus''. It may also include members of '' Kenyanthropus'', '' Ardipithecus'', and '' Praean ...

walked upright. The whole team including Johanson concluded from Lucy's rib that she ate a plant-based diet and from her curved finger bones that she was probably still at home in trees. They did not immediately see Lucy as a separate species, but considered her an older member of ''

Australopithecus africanus ''Australopithecus africanus'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived between about 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of South Africa. The species has been recovered from Taung, Sterkfontei ...

''. The subsequent discovery of several more skulls of similar morphology persuaded most palaeontologists to classify her as a species called ''afarensis''. Johanson and Maitland A. Edey won a 1982 U.S.

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in ScienceThis was the 1982 award for paperback Science.
From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Awards history there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories, and multiple nonfiction subcategories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints of books eligible for previous awards but the 1982 Science was original, ''Taking the Quantum Leap'' by Fred Alan Wolf. for the first popular book about this work, ''Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind''."National Book Awards – 1981"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved March 7, 2012.

"First Family"

AL 333, commonly referred to as the "First Family", is a collection of prehistoric homininid teeth and bones of at least thirteen individuals that were also discovered in Hadar by Johanson's team in 1975. Generally thought to be members of the species ''

,'' the fossils are estimated to be about 3.2 million years old.

Awards and honors

* In 1976, Johanson received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. * In 1991, the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...

(CSICOP) awarded Johanson their highest honor, the ''In Praise of Reason'' award. * On October 19, 2014, Johanson gave the second annual Patrusky Lecture. * On October 24, 2014, Johanson accepted the "Emperor Has No Clothes" award at the

Freedom From Religion Foundation The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for atheism, atheists, agnosticism, agnostics, and nontheism, nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and ch ...

37th annual convention. * Asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson, a target of the ''Lucy'' mission was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on December 25, 2015 ().

Other activities

Since 2013, Johanson has been listed on the Advisory Council of the

National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of con ...

Bibliography

* * * * *

Notes

References

External links

Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
*
In Search of Human Origins
– PBS * – Video
NPR. ''Science Friday''. "Human Origins"
– May 9, 1997, interview with Johanson.
NPR. ''Science Friday''. "Lucy's Relative"
– December 1, 2006, interview with Johanson.
NPR. ''Science Friday''. "Lucy's Legacy"
– March 6, 2009, interview with Johanson.

by Donald Johanson *
Studs Terkel Radio Archive. "Donald Johanson discusses his book ''Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind''"
– March 16, 1981, interview with Studs Terkel. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johanson, Donald 1943 births 20th-century atheists 21st-century atheists American anthropologists American anthropology writers American atheists American male non-fiction writers Anthropology educators Human evolution theorists Arizona State University faculty National Book Award winners Paleoanthropologists University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni University of Chicago alumni Living people American people of Swedish descent