Pictures of various primate species crowd the walls of Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior Frans B.M. de Waal’s office. Known for his research on primate behaviors — specifically emotion, empathy and social strategies — de Waal was the first to apply the Machiavellian social theory of self-interest and scheming to primates when he published his 1982 book, “Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes.”
Caroline Silva/Contributing
The primatologist, selected by Time Magazine as one of The Worlds’ 100 Most Influential People Today in 2007, has published hundreds of scientific articles in his field. At Emory, he has taught classes in the Psychology Department including “Primate Social Psychology” and served as director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center’s Living Links Center.
Recently, De Waal closed all his Yerkes labs and stopped accepting doctorate students as he looks to retire after spending 27 years at Emory University.
De Waal graduated in 1977 from Utrecht University in the Netherlands with a doctorate in biology. From there, he trained as a zoologist and biologist under Utrecht University Professor of Behavioral Biology Jan van Hooff. De Waal later became a distinguished professor at Utrecht.
Having worked at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1981 until 1991, de Waal said he developed into a “pure scientist,” but the lack of interaction with students in Wisconsin bothered him. In 1991, de Waal accepted a joint position at Emory’s Psychology Department and Yerkes.
“Even though I was 100 percent devoted to science, I felt [not working with students] was constraining because I didn’t have a group of young people who had their own interests [and] who I could mentor,” de Waal said.
When de Waal first established his labs at Yerkes, he worked with capuchin monkeys and chimpanzees at the field station. The field station, located in Lawrenceville, Ga., is one of two Yerkes centers and houses approximately 2,200 primates — a large number that allows primates to form social groups researchers can study. The main center, located on the Emory campus, contains about 1,200 primates and most of Yerkes’ biomedical research laboratories. Now, de Waal works at both locations as director of the Yerkes Living Links Center, which primarily researches similarities between humans and apes.
Though de Waal primarily researches cooperation, economics, selfishness and altruism among primates, when he came to Emory he wanted to study empathy, which had not been previously accepted in the field of primate studies; most people thought human empathy was more evolved than primate empathy. However, once de Waal began studying empathy, he spent hours observing how primates perceived each other’s emotional states and how those perceptions affected their behavior. De Waal’s work caused studying empathy among primates to gain traction among researchers.
As de Waal’s studies progressed, he began to collaborate with doctoral students, including Sarah Brosnan (04G), who graduated from Emory with a doctorate in population biology, ecology and evolution to study fairness among primates. The pair assigned a group of primates to the same task but rewarded some more than others. Much like humans, the primates who received fewer rewards became distressed.
Although de Waal has long been recognized for his research on primate cognition and empathy, his research with Brosnan has also become well-known in primatology, he said. A quick Google search for “fairness and primates” finds the pair’s study as the first result.
When Brosnan first pitched the study to her dissertation committee, she said “half the room” was unimpressed and thought a primate would obviously react to unfairness. The other half of the room seemed certain that less-rewarded primates would not care.
“We walked out of my proposal meeting and they told me to not add it,” Brosnan said. “And Frans said to me, ‘Well of course you must run the study.’ And it ended up being one of the more better-known studies I have [conducted].”
Now a professor at Georgia State University (GSU), Brosnan finds herself applying the lessons she learned from de Waal in her own classroom.
“When [my study] came out, he was the one that really pushed me in front of the media … He always reported it as my study, and so I got credit for it,” Brosnan said. “That’s something I also try to do, make sure my students are getting credit for the things that are theirs.”
De Waal cited the Emory Center for Mind, Brain and Culture (CMBC) as a source of inspiration throughout his research. Founded in 2007, the CMBC is a space for the intersection and interdisciplinary discussions of the fields of neuroscience, biology and psychology.
For de Waal, Emory will always remain the place where he discovered the joys of interacting with various students.
De Waal said he “will miss the most the interaction with people … and my animals.” Along with forming close relationships with his students, he has also connected with his primates — all of whom have personalized names. The ties run deep: one female primate recognized de Waal by his voice even after they had not seen each other for 20 years.
“Of course I know them [the primates], and they know me — they get used to the people working with them,” de Waal said.
Although de Waal said he plans to retire soon, he aims to “write more books … and less technical articles.” A new book is set to release in the spring called “Mama’s Last Hug,” which explores animal emotion in comparison to human emotion. He plans to continue giving international lectures and hopes to stay in contact with his students, many of whom attend his lectures.
Now that de Waal has closed his labs at Yerkes, his primates have either been relocated to the San Diego Zoo or given to GSU, where Brosnan will continue her research on them, according to de Waal. De Waal still frequents GSU to visit the primates, Brosnan said. His work with primates has yet to end, and he is currently involved with Chimp Haven, a sanctuary for chimpanzees who are phased out of research, and the Dutch Zoo Federation.
Professor of Psychology Harold Gouzoules, who co-taught with de Waal at the graduate level for 24 years, has long observed de Waal’s dedication to both his students and his studies.
“Frans has been a world-class scholar … If you combine both scientific prominence and recognition by the public, there is not a person at Emory who is more recognized than Frans,” Gouzoules said. “As an ambassador of Emory, as one representing the best of Emory both in terms of teaching and research, Frans is just … there’s no comparison.”
De Waal’s courage allowed him to ask provocative questions that eventually led to his most successful research.
“Frans has boldly gone where few have dared to go,” Gouzoules said. “He asks questions that were taboo in animal behavior research. For decades it was not something that was accepted — you could not ask the types of questions that Frans embarked on.”
As de Waal prepares to leave Emory, he advised students to find a topic that they are seriously passionate about.
“You need to discover what it is that gets you going, [because] that’s what you’re gonna be doing with your life,” de Waal said. “You’re going to be successful if you really picked a topic that lights a fire in you.”
Correction (11/02/18 at 3:45 p.m.): This article has been updated to reflect that de Waal works and has worked with various primates, not just monkeys.
Copy Editor | ccsilva@emory.edu |
Caroline Silva (22C) is from São Paulo, Brazil, but currently resides in Atlanta. She is double majoring in English and philosophy while also pursuing her English MA. In addition to the Wheel, she is president of her sorority, The Alpha Nu Chapter of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, and of the Emory Multicultural Greek Council. She was previously a reporter for the Orlando Weekly and now reports for the Breaking News and Crime and Public Safety teams at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In her free time, she can be found writing poetry and playing video games.
