Insight_2nd Edition

Prof. Steven M. Stanley, PhD Paleontologist, Professor Florida State University, The Smithsonian Institution Baltimore, MD www.marquistopeducators.com/2018/06/25/ steven-stanley Dr. Stanley’s distinctive perspective on paleontology has distinguished him as an educator, author, geoscientist, and researcher. He currently provides his ex- pertise to Florida State University, Johns Hopkins University, and The Smithsonian Institution, not as a “woolly-headed aca- demic,” but as a “fundamentally creative person.” Dr. Stanley notes, “I study fossils, but I also study living things in order to understand fossils. My associates and I are half-biologists and half-geologists. I also interpret the history of life in the context of the physical history of the Earth.” Growing up along the Chagrin River in northeastern Ohio, Dr. Stanley was immersed in his areas of interest at an early age, fostering his fascinationwith earth sciences by collecting rocks and minerals, and at the age of 8, a book about stones, which remains on his shelf today. After his interests in geology blossomed, he was exposed to evolution in a biology course at Princeton University, where he ascended from a student on probation to a summa cum laude graduate over the course of his studies. Mentored by Al Fisher, a professor who later became his lifelong friend, Dr. Stanley sharpened his professional dexterity at Yale University, from which he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy. Skilled in deductive reasoning, Dr. Stanley was a prominent figure at the Johns Hopkins University for the majority of his career, imbuing his wisdom to future generations of paleobiologists and paleontologists in a variety of academic roles from