Richard Wrangham

Richard Wrangham

Richard W. Wrangham (born 1948) is a British primatologist. He is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and his research group is now part of the newly established Department of Human Evolutionary Biology.

He is co-director of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, the long-term study of the Kanyawara chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda. His research culminates in the study of human evolution in which he draws conclusions based on the behavioural ecology of apes. As a graduate student, Wrangham studied under Robert Hinde and Jane Goodall.

He is the co-author of the book Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence with Dale Peterson, and author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. He is also a vegetarian.

Along with Eloy Rodriguez, Wrangham helped to introduce the concept of zoopharmacognosy. Wrangham is considered "one of the pioneers of the study of chimp self-medication".

Among the recent courses he teaches in the Human Evolutionary Biology (HEB) concentration at Harvard are HEB 1330 Primate Social Behaviour and HEB 1565 Theories of Sexual Coercion (co-taught with Professor Diane Rosenfeld from Harvard Law School). In March 2008, he was appointed House Master of Currier House at Harvard College.