H. Dieter Steklis, Ph.D. is Professor of Practice in the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He joined forces with the McClelland Institute to further the research of the “Fathers, Parenting, and Families” Initiative. Dr. Steklis’ present research focuses on the comparative study of personality and temperament, cognitive and emotional differences between apes and humans, and paternal behavior in mountain gorillas.
Dr. Steklis earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. He then began his academic career at Rutgers University. Dr. Steklis’ research, scholarship, and teaching interest span several disciplines including comparative anatomy, neurobiology, biological anthropology, and primatology.
For more than 15 years, Dr. Steklis has held several leadership positions with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, a non-profit organization dedicated to gorilla research and conservation in Africa. He often collaborates with his wife, Netzin Steklis, on research projects concerning mountain gorilla personality, behavior, biology and conservation. Their work has been featured in national and international magazines, radio programs, and numerous television broadcasts (including National Geographic).
