Press Releases
World Renowned Chimpanzee Researcher Dr. Jane Goodall to Speak at Saint Xavier University
2004 ChimpanZoo Conference to culminate Saturday, Sept. 25 with Saint Xavier event
CHICAGO (August 27, 2004) – Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, will speak at Saint Xavier University to culminate the 2004 ChimpanZoo Conference being held Sept. 22 to 25 in Chicago. Dr. Goodall’s presentation at Saint Xavier will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 in the Shannon Center on the university’s Chicago campus, 3700 W. 103 rd St. Tickets for the event are $15-$22 and can be purchased at TicketWeb.com. The lecture is open to the public.
Dr. Goodall is in Chicago as part of the 2004 ChimpanZoo Conference, titled “Social Harmony: Achieving Compatibility in the Ape Enclosure,” being held at Lincoln Park Zoo. Dr. Goodall travels an average of 300 days per year, speaking about threats facing chimpanzees, environmental crises and her reasons for hope that the human race will remedy the problems it has imposed on the earth.
“Saint Xavier University is delighted to host Jane Goodall, the world renowned primatologist, conservationist and author whose work, especially with the chimpanzee, has helped our own species to understand the interrelatedness of life and the importance of wildlife conservation to our planet,” said Dr. Dominick Hart, interim vice president for academic affairs. “We at Saint Xavier hope that many will avail themselves of the opportunity to hear Dr. Goodall, whose powerful and dedicated voice has done so much to foster a healthy and sustainable environment for all life.”
Known for her landmark study of chimpanzees – which she began in Tanzania in 1960 – Dr. Goodall’s work at the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve has become the foundation of primatological research and has redefined the relationship between humans and animals. One of her most significant discoveries came in her first year at Gombe, when she saw chimps stripping leaves off stems to make tools to fish termites out of nearby mounds. Such observations of Gombe chimps making and using tools forced science to rethink what separates man from other animals, namely the notion of “man as toolmaker.”
Defying scientific convention by giving chimpanzees names instead of numbers, Dr. Goodall has insisted on the validity of her observations that chimps possess distinct personalities, minds and emotions. Her writings have asserted the existence of lasting chimpanzee family bonds. Her observations have led to surprising insights, including her discovery that chimpanzees engage in warfare.
In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, which supports the Gombe work and other research, education and conservation and development programs. Among the institute’s projects are community-based conservation efforts in Africa to empower villagers to build sustainable livelihoods while promoting reforestation and working to halt the illegal commercial bushmeat trade.
In April 2002, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Dr. Goodall as a UN Messenger of Peace. In her lectures, Dr. Goodall continues to urge audiences to recognize their personal responsibility, encouraging them to effect change through consumer action, lifestyle change and activism.
Dr. Goodall’s many honors include the Medal of Tanzania, the National Geographical Society’s Hubbard Medal, Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research 2003, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II named Dr. Goodall a Dame of the British Empire, the female equivalent of knighthood.
On top of her many honors, Dr. Goodall also has published extensively. Two works – In the Shadow of Man and Through a Window – serve as overviews to her work at Gombe. She also has written a best-selling autobiography, Reason for Hope and many children’s books.