Peter Thorpe Ellison (born 1951) is an American anthropologist who researches human reproductive ecology. His work has been recognized with a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and membership of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

, among other honors. He has also served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the ''

American Journal of Human Biology The ''American Journal of Human Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering human biology. It is the official publication of the Human Biology Association The Human Biology Association (HBA), established as the Human Biology Council ...

'' and ''

American Journal of Physical Anthropology The ''American Journal of Biological Anthropology''Info pages about the renaming are: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/26927691/homepage/productinformation.html and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26927691 (previously known as ...

'' and editor of ''

Annual Review of Anthropology The ''Annual Review of Anthropology'' is an academic journal that publishes review articles of significant developments in anthropology and its subfields. First published by Stanford University Press in 1959 under the name the ''Biennial Review of ...

''.

Early life and education

Peter Thorpe Ellison was born in 1951 to parents John W. Ellison, an Episcopal reverend, and Mary . He initially went to St. John's College in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, where he at first majored in humanities. Upon reading Darwin's ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'', he became more interested in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

and transferred to the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

, finishing his undergraduate degree in 1975. He graduated from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medi ...

with his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an 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 practice.

in 1980. He later attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

for his PhD.

Career

Ellison researches how the

human reproductive system The human reproductive system includes the male reproductive system which functions to produce and deposit sperm; and the female reproductive system which functions to produce egg cells, and to protect and nourish the fetus until birth. Humans ...

interacts with external factors, which is known as human reproductive ecology. After finishing his PhD, he accepted a position in 1983 to remain at Harvard, where he currently works. He has served as the chair of Department of Anthropology and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at different points. He has been the

of several academic journals, including the ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. He has authored or edited several books, including ''Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution '' (2001), ''On Fertile Ground'' (2001), and ''Endocrinology of Social Relationships'' (2009).

Awards and honors

In 1998 he was awarded a

for his research. He was elected as a member of the

in 2006. In 2019 he received the

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

Lifetime Achievement Award from the Human Biology Association. He is also 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 ...

Personal life

His wife, Priscilla "Pippi" , also attended St. John's, which is where they met as freshman. They were married at age 21 and both transferred to the University of Vermont.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Peter T American anthropologists 1951 births St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni University of Vermont alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Living people Annual Reviews (publisher) editors