Donald Johanson

Donald Carl Johanson (born June 28, 1943) is an American paleoanthropologist. Along with Maurice Taieb, and Yves Coppens he is known for the discovery of the skeleton of the female hominid australopithecine known as "Lucy", in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia. Johanson was born in Chicago, Illinois, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1966. He earned his master's degree in 1970 and hi... more

Donald Carl Johanson (born June 28, 1943) is an American paleoanthropologist. Along with Maurice Taieb, and Yves Coppens he is known for the discovery of the skeleton of the female hominid australopithecine known as "Lucy", in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia. Johanson was born in Chicago, Illinois, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1966. He earned his master's degree in 1970 and his PhD in 1974 from the University of Chicago. At the time of the discovery of Lucy, he was an assistant and associate professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University. Johanson also holds an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University. In 1981, he established the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California which he later moved to Arizona State University in 1998. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Westfield State College in 2008. Lucy was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia on November 24, 1974, when Johanson,... less