Robert Trivers

Robert L. Trivers (born February 19, 1943) is an American evolutionary biologist. He is best known for his work on reciprocal altruism, parental investment, and sexual selection. Trivers was born in Washington, D.C. and received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968. He has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Rutgers University. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Biology at Rutgers University. Trivers is the author of several books, including "Social Evolution" (1985), "The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life" (1985), and "Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements" (1985). He has also written over 200 scientific articles. Trivers has received numerous awards for his work, including the MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1984. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society of London.