World-Renowned Anthropologist, Richard Leakey, Honored at the "Stars of Stony Brook Gala"

STONY BROOK, NY — Richard Leakey, the world-renowned conservationist and paleo-anthropologist and Visiting Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook, was honored by the University at its Eighth Annual “Stars of Stony Brook” Gala on Wednesday, April 11 in Manhattan.

The Gala is an invitation-only event that was created in 2000 to increase scholarship funding. This year’s dinner also served to celebrate the University’s 50th anniversary while raising funds for undergraduate scholarships as well as the Turkana Basin Institute, a joint venture between Dr. Leakey, Stony Brook University, the U.S. International University in Kenya, and the University of Nairobi.

"We at Stony Brook are deeply honored to count him among our faculty, and to pay him a well-deserved tribute at our 50th anniversary gala. Celebrating such an auspicious milestone with such a celebrated individual is a pleasure and privilege," said Stony Brook President Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny during the Gala.

Dr. Leakey has made some of the most important fossil discoveries of the last 100 years, including “Turkana Boy,” a human skeleton some 1.6 million years old. Leakey's field work at Lake Natron on the Kenya-Tanzania Border, the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia, and on the East shore of Lake Turkana has produced a treasure of hominid fossils that provide much of the record on which our understanding of human evolution is built. Although no longer active in fieldwork, Leakey remained as one of the foremost authorities on wildlife and nature conservation as the former director of the National Museums of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service. Dr. Leakey has used his leadership skills and considerable influence to raise money for the preservation of Kenyan culture and wildlife. He is as one of the foremost advocate on wildlife and nature conservation as he continues to educate others about the dangers of environmental degradation.

Dr. Leakey has been serving as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook since 2002. During this period, he has established the Stony Brook World Environmental Forum, and the Annual Human Evolution Symposium. The Environmental Forum focuses on mobilizing the resources of science, business, government agencies and international corporations to implement concrete, tangible solutions on urgent problems impacting the global environment. Meanwhile, the Human Evolution Symposium brings together international scientists from numerous disciplines to try and obtain a clearer appreciation and understanding on several issues related to human lineage.

Leakey is currently spearheading the development of the Turkana Basin Institute, which benefited $1 million raised from Gala, a majority of which will be used for student scholarships. The Institute, to be located in the Turkana region in Kenya, will have 80 staff, including 30 students, as well as local scientists. Dr. John Fleagle, a professor of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook, has been named director.

The collaborative effort will lead to a $25 million state-of-the-art research center comprising of a series of three field stations, consisting of both laboratories and hotel-style living quarters. Since the site is permanent, researchers will also be able to use it year-round, thereby tripling the amount of time spent in the field. This will make it possible for teams of researchers to travel with greater ease and take advantage of the fossil-rich region in Northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia.

Pictured Above: Dr. Leakey during the Annual “Stars of Stony Brook” Gala.