Simon Levin, Princeton University’s James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has been elected as a fellow of the United Kingdom’s Royal Society, a scholarly academy dedicated to “promoting excellence in science for the benefit of humanity.”
“I am delighted to welcome this newest group of exceptional scientists to the Fellowship of the Royal Society,” said Paul Nurse, the organization’s president, in its announcement of the new fellows. “Their work exemplifies the enduring value of curiosity, creativity and rigorous inquiry.”
The Fellowship of the Royal Society has existed since 1660, and election to it is lifelong.
“I am deeply honored to join the Royal Society,” said Levin. “Not only is it the oldest national scientific academy in the world, but I am especially grateful because the scholars who elected me include colleagues whom I have known and respected for decades. I am thrilled to join them and to contribute in whatever way I can to the great work the Royal Society performs.”
Levin’s work has helped put environmental research into context for experts and the public alike. He focuses on complexity, particularly how large-scale patterns — including at the ecosystem level — emerge from individual behaviors and local environmental factors.
He and his research team use observational data and mathematical models to explore topics such as biological diversity, evolution of structure and organization, and management of public goods and shared resources. While primarily focused on ecology, Levin has also analyzed conservation, financial systems, economic systems, infectious disease dynamics, and antibiotic resistance.
Levin joined Princeton’s faculty in 1992; two years later he was founding director of High Meadows Environmental Institute. He has received many major awards including: National Medal of Science (2015), Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2014), Ecological Society of America Eminent Ecologist Award (2010), Kyoto Prize in Biological Sciences from Inamori Foundation (2005), as well as an honorary degree from Johns Hopkins University on May 21.
Levin is a member of several national and international honorary societies including American Academy of Arts and Sciences; National Academy of Sciences; American Philosophical Society; American Association for Advancement of Science. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University (1961) and doctorate from University of Maryland (1964).
Other fellows or foreign members at Princeton include Kwame Anthony Appiah; Bonnie Bassler; Manjul Bhargava; Roberto Car; Emily Carter; Steven Cowley; Jo Dunkley; B. Rosemary Grant; Peter Grant; Bryan Grenfell; John Groves; F. Duncan Haldane (Nobel laureate); David MacMillan (Nobel laureate); Stephen Pacala; P. James Peebles (Nobel laureate); H. Vincent Poor; Peter Sarnak; Gregory Scholes; Shivaji Sondhi; Howard Stone; Shirley M. Tilghman.
