Simon Levin

Simon Levin is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. He holds associated faculty appointments at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (since 2019), Princeton University Center for Human Values (since 2017), and the Program in Global Health and Health Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (since 2016). Since 2001, he has directed the Center for BioComplexity within the High Meadows Environmental Institute.

Education:

• B.A. in Mathematics, The Johns Hopkins University, 1961
• Ph.D. in Mathematics, The University of Maryland, 1964

Research Interests: Levin's interdisciplinary work integrates theoretical biology, ecology, and mathematics to address complex systems across scales—from microbial interactions to global ecosystems. His research focuses on mathematical epidemiology, evolutionary dynamics, ecological economics, and environmental stochasticity, particularly in savanna-forest transitions and pandemic modeling.

Honors and Awards:

• MacArthur Award (1988)
• National Medal of Science (2014)
• Kyoto Prize (2005)
• BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2022)
• 20+ additional major international prizes and academy fellowships

Grants and Advising: Levin leads multiple active NSF grants on pandemic preparedness ($125,606), ecological resilience ($981,900), and computational epidemiology ($413,568). He has supervised 73 PhD students (with 10 ongoing) and 112 postdoctoral researchers through the Center for BioComplexity.