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. ), and the co-author (with Rachel Caspari) of Race and Human Evolution: A Fatal Attraction (), 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.
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 humanity, noting that speciation played a role earlier in human evolution.
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. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1971, and became a professor of anthropology in 1977.
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