John H. Relethford is an American biological anthropologist and Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the

State University of New York at Oneonta The State University of New York College at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public college in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneon ...

(SUNY Oneonta). He is also an adjunct professor at

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

Education and career

Relethford received his Ph.D. from the

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

in 1980. Before joining SUNY Oneonta, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Genetics at the

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed), located in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution, specializing in genetics and in virology and immunology. Texas Biomed is funded by government and cor ...

. He was named a Distinguished Teaching Professor in 1998. From 2006 to 2007, he was the president of the

American Association of Physical Anthropologists The American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) is an international professional society of biological anthropologists, based in the United States. The organization publishes the ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'', a pe ...

Research

Relethford's research focuses on human

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and pop ...

and the evolutionary origin of

modern humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

. For example, he has proposed his own version of the "

Out of Africa ''Out of Africa'' is a memoir by the Danish author Karen Blixen. The book, first published in 1937, recounts events of the seventeen years when Blixen made her home in Kenya, then called British East Africa. The book is a lyrical meditation on ...

" model, the standard theory for the evolution of modern humans; he has described his model as placing human origins "mostly out of Africa".

Honors and awards

Relethford received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994-1995, and the first recipient of SUNY Oneonta's Susan Sutton Smith Prize for Academic Excellence in 1995. In 2001, he was elected a 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 responsi ...

. In 2017, he received the American Association of Physical Anthropologists'

Gabriel Lasker Gabriel Ward Lasker (April 29, 1912 – August 27, 2002) was a British-born American biological anthropologist. He taught anatomy at Wayne State University School of Medicine for 36 years and served as editor-in-chief of the scientific journal '' ...

Distinguished Service Award.

References

External links

Relethford's faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Relethford, John Henry American anthropologists State University of New York at Oneonta faculty Living people University at Albany, SUNY alumni Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Binghamton University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)