Robert Sapolski

Robert Sapolsky is an American neuroendocrinologist, professor of biology, neurology, neurosciences, and neurosurgery at Stanford University, and a research associate at the National Museum of Kenya. His main scientific interests are the study of stress, neuronal death, and gene therapy.

In 1978, he received a bachelor’s degree in biological anthropology, summa cum laude, from Harvard University. He then went to Kenya to study the social behavior of baboons in the wild. After returning to New York, he studied at Rockefeller University, where he earned a PhD in neuroendocrinology while working in Bruce McEwen’s laboratory.

After his first year-and-a-half-long study in Africa, he returned every summer for another twenty-five years to observe the same group of baboons, from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He spent 8–10 hours a day with them for four months each year, describing their behavior.

At Stanford, Sapolsky teaches several courses: cell biology and animal physiology, human behavioral biology, and mechanisms of neuronal death. Many recordings of his lectures are available online in open access.

Robert Sapolsky is the author of numerous scientific papers and popular science books that have not yet been translated into Russian. He is known for his accessible style and unique sense of humor, which make his works unforgettable reading.