Photo: Caleb Long / CC BY-SA 2.5 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Neil Shubin has the credentials of a serious scholar, a Harvard education, a University of Chicago professorship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, but what truly impresses me is his gift for translation. Explaining how our own limbs evolved from ancient fish, he makes deep evolutionary science feel thrilling rather than intimidating. The rarest kind of intelligence is the kind that builds bridges to ordinary curiosity, and Shubin does exactly that. As Provost of the Field Museum he is also a hands-on doer, not a cloistered theorist. I deeply respect scientists who refuse to hoard knowledge and instead hand it generously to the public.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Neil Shubin
- Name (Japanese)
- ニール・シュービン
- Reading
- にーる・しゅーびん
- Born
- December 22, 1960 (age 65)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Rat
- Origin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Occupation
- paleontologist / university teacher / writer / anatomist
2. Background
- High school
- Lower Merion High School
- University
- Harvard University
Awards & achievements
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- 2008 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Neil Shubin born?
Born December 22, 1960 (age 65).
Where is Neil Shubin from?
Neil Shubin is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
What does Neil Shubin do?
Neil Shubin works as paleontologist, university teacher, writer, anatomist.
University teacher — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.