Darwin Memorial Lecture 2026

PROFESSOR ROBERT FOLEY FBA
CHARLES DARWIN – THE SCIENTIFIC GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Leverhulme Professor of Human Evolution Emeritus
Life Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge

Robert has described how his career as an evolutionary and biological anthropologist developed. His research interest in human evolution led to studying the ecological basis for patterns and processes in the development of human behaviour. His work followed covering social evolution, speciation and extinction in hominins, and has been characterised by interdisciplinary studies; fossils, genetics and archaeology.

He has contributed extensively to the development of the theory on the African origin of modern humans.

Currently, he is engaged in Field Projects, focusing on the evolution of modern humans in Africa. He collaborates with Marta Mirazon Lahr, with whom he also co-funded the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary studies in Cambridge.