Born in England in 1934, from an early age Jane Goodall had a passion for animals. Unable to afford university, she first trained and worked as secretary. In 1957, she traveled to the Kenyan farm of a friend’s parents and met the famed anthropologist and paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey. In 1960, at his invitation, Goodall began her landmark study of chimpanzees in the wild at the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in what is now Tanzania. Her research—most notably, her discovery that year that chimpanzees make and use tools—revolutionized the world of primatology and redefined the relationship between humans and animals.
In 1961, Goodall entered Cambridge University as a PhD candidate, one of the few people in history to be admitted there without a college degree. She earned her PhD in ethology in 1966 and continued her research at the Gombe Stream Research Center, which she established in 1965, and which became a training group for students from around the world interested in studying primates. In 1977, she established the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation, later renamed the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), to build upon her ground breaking community-centered approach to conservation.
Observing the accelerated pace of deforestation and declining chimpanzee populations in Tanzania, Goodall left Gombe in 1977, and began to educate, write and lecture extensively around the world as an advocate for peace and conservation. In 1991, Goodall and a group of Tanzanian students established the JGI’s youth program, Roots & Shoots.
In 2002, Goodall became a UN Messenger of Peace. She was created Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003. In January 2019, Goodall announced the creation of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation, an endowment to future-proof the legacy of her sixty decades of work. Goodall is also the author of sixteen books published in over 48 languages and numerous children’s books and has authored numerous articles in books and scientific journals including Nature, Primate Behaviour, Animal Behaviour, National Geographic, Primate Ethology, Folia Primatologica and many others.
Goodall delivered the Beatty Lecture May 10, 1979 on the topic "Chimpanzees in the Wild: Perspectives on Primate Behaviour". According to the Beatty Lecture Committee's annual report that year, her lecture "was a brilliant and entertaining lecture for those who (over)filled Leacock 132. In spite of the lateness in the year the lecture had however attracted phenomenal numbers and very many had to be turned away. Miss Goodall spent three half-days with specialists in primate behaviour."
Forty years later, Goodall returned to McGill to deliver the 2019 Beatty Lecture, becoming the first repeat lecturer in Beatty history.
Listen to Jane Goodall's 1979 Beatty Lecture:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
Poster for Jane Goodall's 1979 Beatty Lecture, created by McGill Graphic Services.
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A telegram dated October 10, 1978 to Dr. Goodall in Tanzania from Dean Hitschfeld.
Contrary to his prediction, Dr. Goodall's lecture ended up overfilling the Lecture Hall (Leacock Room 132) and many had to be turned away.
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A letter dated October 15, 1978 from Dr. Goodall to Dean Hitschfeld.
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A letter dated March 15, 1979 from Dr. Goodall to Dean Hitschfeld.
Audio: Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Archives
Poster and correspondence: Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Archives
Image: United Nations Photo Library
