Lewontin, Richard C.

Lewontin, Richard C. (Charles) (1929–  ) geneticist; born in New York City. He was a biometrician at Columbia University (1953–54), an assistant professor at North Carolina State College (1954–58), and a professor at the Universities of Rochester (1958–64) and Chicago (1964–73), and at Harvard (1973). A prolific writer and a former editor of scientific journals, he made major contributions to studies of population genetics, evolution, and philosophical and social aspects of human behavior. He is also known as a controversial critic of his professional colleagues and a commentator on the applications of biological knowledge to broader issues.