MISSOULA – Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace, will speak at the University of Montana on Sunday, June 26.
Goodall’s talk, “Hope Through Action,” is part of UM’s President’s Lecture Series and co-sponsored by UM’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center and the International Wildlife Film Festival. The lecture, which is free and open to the community, will take place at 6 p.m. on the Oval and virtually for those who can’t attend in person.
Goodall’s scientific legacy stretches back more than 60 years to her groundbreaking research of the then little-known wild chimpanzees living in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. With mentorship from paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey, Goodall’s research transformed the study of wildlife. Her revelatory observation that chimpanzees make and use tools rocked the scientific landscape, forever redefining our understanding of the relationship between humans and other animals.
Since then, Goodall has built on innovative science and a lifetime of advocacy – particularly through her global organization the Jane Goodall Institute, founded in 1977. Her trailblazing efforts advanced community-led conservation, empowering local communities to own the process of sustainable development and conservation. Roots & Shoots, the institute’s international youth program, supports young people in all 50 U.S. states and over 50 countries worldwide to be the change in their communities and change the world for the better.
“There is much that all of us can learn from Jane Goodall and her tireless efforts to protect not only the wildlife that inhabits our planet, but the people, too,” said UM President Seth Bodnar. “She has proven that the well-being of one does not have to come at the expense of the other. We’re extremely excited to have her visit UM, and I encourage all of Missoula to come hear her important message.”
Goodall is the author of numerous books, including her newest, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” and she has been the subject of multiple television documentaries and feature films.
A global icon, Goodall has been the recipient of many honors, most recently receiving the esteemed Templeton Prize in 2021. Her other honors include the Medal of Tanzania, the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal, Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, the UNESCO 60th Anniversary Medal and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence. In April 2002, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan named Goodall a UN Messenger of Peace. In a 2004 ceremony at Buckingham Palace, she became a Dame Commander of the British Empire. In 2006, she received France's highest recognition, the Legion of Honor.
UM’s President’s Lecture Series was created to provide citizens of Montana opportunities to gather, learn and discuss the ideas and issues that animate our communities. More information about the event, including how to livestream the lecture, will be available on the President’s Lecture Series webpage.
The University will provide 500 chairs for the event that will be placed underneath a large, shaded tent on a first-come, first-served basis. If attendees want to spread out across the Oval or arrive to the lecture late, event organizers encourage them to bring their own chairs.
