William R. Leonard

William R. Leonard is the Watkins Family Professor of Global Health in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University, directing the Program in Global Health Studies and co-directing the Center for Global Health Education within the Havey Institute for Global Health. As Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Human Biology, he shapes discourse in human biology research.

Education:

• PhD, University of Michigan, 1987

His research centers on human adaptation to environmental and social stressors through energy metabolism, nutrition, and child growth studies among indigenous South American and Siberian populations. He examines dietary/lifestyle transition impacts on health and chronic disease risks, integrating evolutionary perspectives on human metabolic requirements including brain expansion consequences.

Recent publications reveal interdisciplinary trends spanning evolutionary medicine, queer disaster resilience, and energy expenditure methodology. His work increasingly addresses climate change, pandemics, and LGBTQ+ vulnerabilities through biocultural lenses while maintaining core focus on metabolic adaptation.

Scientific Awards:

• Franz Boas Distinguished Achievement Award, Human Biology Association (2021)

Leonard secures major funding from NSF, NIH, Wenner-Gren, and Leakey Foundation. He mentors graduate students and leads the Tsimane’ Amazonian Panel Study (TAPS), providing longitudinal health/nutrition data from Bolivia. His advising shapes global health education and policy development.

Fieldwork spans Bolivian Amazon (Tsimane’ people) and northeastern Siberia (Yakut/Sakha), investigating human adaptation in tropical, high-altitude, and extreme cold environments through community-engaged research.