Milford H. Wolpoff

Milford H. Wolpoff
Born 1942
Chicago, Illinois
Residence Chelsea, Michigan
Nationality American
Fields Anthropology
Institutions University of Michigan
Alma mater University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Doctoral advisor Eugene Giles
Notable students Timothy Douglas White
Mary Doria Russell
John D. Hawks
Fred Hines Smith
Known for Multiregional origin of modern humans
Notable awards Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award (2011)
W.W. Howells Book Prize (1999)

Milford Howell Wolpoff is a paleoanthropologist working as a professor of anthropology and adjunct associate research scientist, Museum of Anthropology, at the University of Michigan. He was born in 1942 to Ruth (Silver) and Ben Wolpoff, in Chicago. He is the leading proponent of the multiregional evolution hypothesis that attempts to explain the evolution of Homo sapiens as a consequence of evolutionary processes within a single species. He is the author of Paleoanthropology, 1980 and 1999 editions with McGraw-Hill, New York. ISBN 0-07-071676-5), and the co-author (with Rachel Caspari) of Race and Human Evolution: A Fatal Attraction (ISBN 0-684-81013-1), which reviews the scientific evidence and conflicting theories about how human evolution has been interpreted, and how its interpretation is related to views about race.[1][2]

He is best known for his vocal support of the multiregional model of human evolution that challenges the 'Out of Africa' theory. The basis for advancing the multiregional interpretation stems from his disbelief in punctuated equilibrium (the idea that evolutionary process involves long static periods and abrupt changes rather than gradual modification during speciation) as an accurate model for Pleistocene humanity, noting that speciation played a role earlier in human evolution.[3]

Education

Wolpoff received an A.B. in 1964 with a major in anthropology and a minor in mathematics, and a Ph.D. in 1969 in physical anthropology, with minors in zoology and archaeology, from the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois. His research advisor and intellectual mentor was Eugene Giles.[4] He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1971, and became a professor of anthropology in 1977.[2]

Professional Work

Wolpoff was trained primarily as a paleoanthropologist at the University of Illinois under Eugene Giles. With his multidisciplinary training, he brings to the study of the human and non-human primate fossil record a background that combines evolutionary theory, population genetics, and biomechanics. With over 50 grants funded by the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, and the University of Michigan, Wolpoff has visited the museums where human and primate fossils are stored and has studied in detail and at length all the materials addressing the fossil evidence for human evolution across Europe, Asia, and Africa. His research foci have included the evolution and fate of the European Neandertals, the role of culture in early hominid evolution, the nature and explanation of allometry, robust australopithecine evolution, the distribution and explanation of sexual dimorphism, hominid origins, the pattern and explanation of Australasian hominid evolution, the contributions and role of genetics in paleoanthropological research, and the taxonomy of the genus Homo. In addition, he is a primary describer of many hominid fossil remains. Since 1976 Wolpoff has graduated more than 20 Ph.D students.[1]

Multiregional evolution and the punctuated equilibrium theory

Drawing on this background and research experience, Wolpoff's continuing research for the last 15 years has been the development, articulation, and defense of his multiregional model of human evolution.[5] He suggests that after an African origin of Homo sapiens (including Homo ergaster/Homo erectus) and the subsequent migration of H. erectus throughout much of the globe with the exception of the Americas, local evolutionary events took place across the world (Africa, Europe, Asia, and when they were advantageous, they spread everywhere else. According to Wolpoff, populations of Homo evolved together as a single species. Change in Pleistocene populations did not involve speciation (the splitting of one species into two): all this time, the geographically distinct populations maintained small amounts of gene flow. This idea directly challenges the Out of Africa model, which claims Homo sapiens evolved recently as a new species in Africa, and then dispersed throughout the Old World, replacing the existing human populations without mixing with them.[6][7]

His theory evoked bitter rivalry with the proponents of punctuated equilibrium, Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, who endorsed H. erectus as a model of their theory.[3][8] In an earlier example of punctuated evolutionpreceding the global diffusion of Homo sapiens genes from Africa, some two million years ago, Wolpoff points to evidence of an earlier 'genetic revolution' that took place in a small group isolated from australopithecine forebears. "The earliest H. sapiens remains differ significantly from australopithecines in both size and anatomical details," he notes, "Insofar as we can tell, these changes were sudden and not gradual."[9]

Awards and Honours

Wolpoff is a member of many anthropological organizations, and is an Honorary Life Member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (in 2001) and Fellow of the American Anthropological Association. Some notable awards are[4]

Media

Books and monographs

His work with Rachel Caspari, Race and Human Evolution earned them the W.W. Howells Book Prize in 1999. Besides these, he has published 5 other books, 160 papers, and 22 book reviews, has presented numerous lectures and meetings papers, and has had many interviews and video appearances.

Magazines and films

Wolpoff has also appeared in The New York Times, New Scientist, Discover, and Newsweek.[1] He has appeared in numerous video documentaries, notable ones include[4][11]

Past PhD Students

  • David Wayne Frayer 1976
  • Fred Hines Smith 1976
  • Leonard Owen Greenfield 1977
  • Timothy Douglas White 1977
  • Clark Spencer Larsen 1980
  • Mary Doria Russell 1983
  • Marcia Lynn Robertson 1984
  • Karen R. Rosenberg 1986
  • Lynne Alison Schepartz 1987
  • Andrew Kramer 1989
  • Tracey Leigh Crummett 1994
  • Katarzyna Anna Kaszycka 1995
  • James Chapin McLaughlin Ahern 1998
  • Sang-Hee Lee 1999
  • John D. Hawks 1999
  • Adam P. Van Arsdale 2006
  • Virginia Hutton Estabrook 2009
  • Julie J. Lesnik 2011
  • Davorka Radovčić 2011
  • Mary Kelaita 2011
  • Zachary Cofran 2012

References

  1. 1 2 3 Brockman J (2012). "Milford H. Wolpoff". Edge. Edge Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  2. 1 2 "Milford Wolpoff (The Department of Anthropology)". University of Michigan. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  3. 1 2 Lee SH, Wolpoff MH (2003). "The pattern of evolution in Pleistocene human brain size". Paleobiology. 29 (2): 186–196. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0186:TPOEIP>2.0.CO;2.
  4. 1 2 3 "Curriculum Vitae: Milford H. Wolpoff". University of Michigan. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  5. ↑ Hirst KK. "Milford Howell Wolpoff". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  6. ↑ Hirst KK (1999). "Wolpoff, Milford H.". Researchers. International Center for Scientific Research. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  7. ↑ Wolpoff MH, Hawks J, Caspari R (2000). "Multiregional, not multiple origins". Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 112 (1): 129–136. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(200005)112:1<129::AID-AJPA11>3.0.CO;2-K. PMID 10766948.
  8. ↑ Wolpoff MH, Caspari R (2002). "Response to 'Grappling with the Ghost of Gould' by David P. Barash (letter to the editor)". Human Nature Review. 2: 297.
  9. ↑ "Human ancestors make evolutionary changes". The Free Library. Science Service, Inc. 4 May 1984. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  10. ↑ Hagen E (11 March 2011). "Darwin award 2011: Milford Wolpoff". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  11. ↑ "Curriculum vitae : Milford H. Wolpoff". en.convdocs.org. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
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