Jane Goodall, the world renowned primatologist, will share her breadth of knowledge about chimpanzees, humans' closest relative, in a free lecture titled "Chimpanzees, Humans and Habitats" on Monday, Nov. 24, at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall on the Cornell University campus.

As an A.D. White Professor-at-Large, Goodall will spend three days on campus meeting with faculty and students, Nov. 23 through 25. During her visit, Goodall will meet extensively with students and faculty and with members of the Ithaca community. She will participate in question-and-answer sessions in two large undergraduate courses, talk at a luncheon hosted by undergraduates in Ecology House and meet with the newly appointed presidential scholars. On Tuesday, Nov. 25, she will have breakfast at Eco-Village on West Hill and give a talk at Ithaca High School.

Goodall began studying primates in Western Tanzania in 1960 under the guidance of Dr. Louis Leakey, the world famous paleontologist (and a Cornell A.D. White Professor from 1966 to 1972). Her research has continued without interruption at Gombe in Tanzania, becoming the longest continuous field study of animals ever undertaken.

In the early 1970s, Goodall was the first to show that chimpanzees fashioned and used tools for their own purpose, and that these primates were often carnivorous. Goodall, who has been the scientific director of the Gombe Wildlife Research Institute in Tanzania since 1967 and is a visiting professor of zoology at the University of Dar es Salaam, also has meticulously documented chimpanzee behavior, including family relationships, communication, child rearing and reproductive behavior. She has reported that, like humans, chimpanzees can be peaceful and caring but also can be aggressive killers, having observed a violent war between two rival groups of Gombe chimpanzees.

The author of 10 books, including In The Shadow of Man in 1971, which has been translated into 48 languages, and The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior in 1986 and five children's books, Goodall has received numerous honorary degrees and international prizes, including the Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E.) awarded by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 1995. Her current efforts include the Jane Goodall Institute, which focuses on conservation and educating young people about environmental issues and in improving the well-being of captive chimpanzees. Her work is now supported by the Jane Goodall Institute.

"Jane has revolutionized our views on the life and behavior of chimpanzees," says Michael Latham, M.D., professor of international nutrition at Cornell and a longtime friend and admirer of Goodall. Latham was working as a physician, research scientist and medical school teacher in Tanzania during Goodall's early years of research there. He also worked closely with her late husband, Derek Bryceson, when he was Minister of Health in Tanzania.

"Her international recognition as a scholar has pushed forward the frontiers of knowledge. Her vast popularity as a speaker draws huge audiences and she has captivated generations of students and positively influenced the lives of many young people," Latham said. "She has the rare distinction of having made monumental scientific discoveries, which have excited the academic community in many disciplines, but also, more than almost any other scientist, has made her findings easily understood by non-scientists.

"She is also a wonderful role model for aspiring women scientists," Latham said.

Goodall joins 13 other current Andrew D. White Professors-at-Large at Cornell; these are outstanding individuals from the sciences, humanities and arts, who over six-year terms make periodic visits to Cornell and are considered full members of the faculty. The program for professors-at-large began in 1965 in honor of Cornell's centennial, and it is named for the university's first president, from whom the idea originated.

Free tickets for the lecture will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at Willard Straight Hall ticket office and downtown at the Sciencenter, beginning 10 am, Monday, Nov. 10. There is a limit of two tickets per person.

Donations will be requested during the lecture to support the Jane Goodall Institute. Goodall will autograph books after the lectures. Books, T-shirts and other items will be available for purchase.