Education
Columbia University; Yale University.
Columbia University; Yale University.
He is a Professor at the University of Chicago and a former Early Career Scientist of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is known for resurrecting ancestral genes and tracing the mechanisms by which proteins evolve new functions. His work has been discussed in arguments concerning intelligent design and "irreducible complexity." lieutenant has also been featured in popular discussions of the contingency of evolution.
His background and career were profiled in an article in the journal Nature, which focused on his unusual path into science, including undergraduate study as an English major and several years as an environmental activist working for Greenpeace.