Centenary Hosts Lecture by World-Renowned Primatologist

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College of Louisiana and Chimp Haven, Inc. will be hosting a lecture by Frans de Waal, Ph.D., that is free and open to the public. The discussion will be centered on his new book The Age of Empathy.

Frans de Waal

What: The Age of Empathy lecture
When: Sunday, October 16 at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Whited Room, Bynum Commons

Dr. de Waal received his Ph.D. in Biology and Zoology from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, in 1977. He completed his postdoctoral study of chimpanzees while associated with Utrecht University in 1981, and moved the same year to the USA. His publications include Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are and Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved.

Time featured him in 2007 as one of the World's One Hundred Most Influential People. Dr. de Waal has been a National Academy of Sciences member since 2004, and a Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences member since 1993. He is currently the Director of Living Links at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

Dr. de Waal's research on primate behavior focuses on social complexity in the widest possible sense, including alliance formation, reciprocal exchange, reconciliation following aggression, deceptive communication, and responses to environmentally induced stress. This research has a distinctly comparative character; it is being pursued with chimpanzees, bonobos, several macaque species, and capuchin monkeys.

For more information on Dr. de Waal's research, please visit www.psychology.emory.edu.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 371 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.