Francisco Jose Ayala (born 1934) is a Spanish American biologist and philosopher at the University of California, Irvine. He was born in Madrid and moved to the US in 1961 to study at Columbia University. There, he studied for his doctorate under Theodosius Dobzhansky, graduating in 1964. He became a US citizen in 1971. Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... The University of California, Irvine is a public research university primarily situated in suburban Irvine, California, USA; a significant portion of the campus falls into the neighboring community of Newport Beach. ... Motto: (Spanish for From Madrid to Heaven) Location Coordinates: , Country Spain Autonomous Community Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid Province Madrid Administrative Divisions 21 Neighborhoods 127 Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jimémez (PP) Area  - Land 607 km² (234. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... Theodosius Grigorevich Dobzhansky (Russian — Феодосий Григорьевич Добржанский; sometimes anglicized to Theodore Dobzhansky; January 25, 1900 - December 18, 1975) was a noted geneticist and evolutionary biologist. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... // Possession of Citizenship U.S. citizens have the right to participate in the political system of the United States (with reservations for prisoners, ex-prisoners, and naturalized persons), are represented and protected abroad by the United States (through U.S. embassies and consulates), and are allowed to reside in the... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...

He has been President and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an organization that promotes cooperation between scientists, defends scientific freedom, encourages scientific responsibility and supports scientific education for the betterment of all humanity. ...

At University of California, Irvine, his academic appointments include University Professor and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (School of Biological Sciences), Professor of Philosophy, (School of Humanities), and Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of Science (School of Social Sciences). The title of University Professor at the University of California is reserved for scholars of international distinction who are recognized and respected as teachers of exceptional ability. Unlike Distinguished Professorships which are campus specific, recommendations for University Professorships are made by the President, while appointments must be confirmed by The...

He has been publicly critical of U.S. restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, an organization that has lobbied Congress to lift federal restrictions on funding embryonic stem cell research. Human embryonic stem cell colony. ... Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon) is an American online organization founded in September, 2005 to support the constitutional separation of church and state and to oppose what it perceives as the growing influence of the religious right. ...

He attended the Beyond Belief symposium on November 2006.

Academic distinctions

In 2001, Ayala won the National Medal of Science. On April 13 2007, he was awarded the first of 100 bicentennial medals at Mount Saint Mary's University for lecturing there as the first presenter for the Bicentennial Distinguished Lecture Series. His lecture was entitled "The Biological Foundations of Morality". Other awards he has received include the Gold Honorary Gregor Mendel Medal of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the Gold Medal of the Stazione Zoologica in Naples, the President's Award of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award and 150th Anniversary Leadership Medal of the AAAS, the Medal of the College of France, the UCI Medal of the University of California, the 1998 Distinguished Scientist Award from the SACNAS, and Sigma Xi's William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, 2000. National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... For other uses: see Mount St Marys (disambiguation). ... Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, Czech Republic The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Czech: , abbr. ... The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research instituted in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. ... The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is a nonprofit scientific association dedicated to advancing biological research and education. ... The Collège de France is a higher education teaching and research establishment located in France. ... Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society, founded in 1886, is a non-profit honor society of about 62,000 scientists and engineers elected on the basis of their research achievements or potential. ...

Ayala is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He is also a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome, the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, the Mexican Academy of Sciences, and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He has honorary degrees from the University of Athens, the University of Bologna, the University of Barcelona, the University of the Balearic Islands, the University of León, the University of Madrid, the University of Valencia, the University of Vigo, Far Eastern National University, and Masaryk University. President Harding and the National Academy of Sciences at the White House, Washington, DC, April 1921 The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine. ... The House of the Academy, Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... The American Philosophical Society is a discussion group founded as the Junto in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin. ... Russian Academy of Sciences: main building Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... The Accademia dei Lincei, (literally the Academy of the Lynxes, but also known as the Lincean Academy), is located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. ... AMC Instalaciones The Mexican Academy of Sciences (Academia Mexicana de Ciencias) is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent foreign colleagues, including various Nobel Prize winners. ... The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Serbian: Српска академија наука и уметности) was founded in 1886 as the Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts. ... The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικόν και Καποδιστριακόν Πανεπιστήμιον Αθηνών), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in the region of the eastern Mediterranean and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. ... The University of Bologna (Italian: , UNIBO) is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in the world, and the second biggest university in Italy. ... The University of Barcelona (Catalan: , Spanish: , UB) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Spain. ... The University of the Balearic Islands (Catalan: Universitat de les Illes Balears; Spanish: Universidad de las Islas Baleares) or UIB for short, is a Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma on the island of Mallorca. ... The University of Madrid can refer to several academic institutions in Madrid, Spain: The Complutense University of Madrid (Spanish: Universidad Complutense de Madrid) The Autonomous University of Madrid (Spanish: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM) The Pontifical Comillas University of Madrid (Spanish: Universidad Pontificia Comillas de Madrid) This is a... The University of Valencia (Catalan: Universitat de València) is a Spanish university, located in the city of Valencia. ... The University of Vigo (Galician: Universidade de Vigo) is a public university centered in the city of Vigo, Galicia. ... Far Eastern National University (Russian: ) is an institution of higher education located in Vladivostok, Russia. ... Masaryk University in Brno is the second largest university in the Czech Republic. ...

Books

• Le ragioni dell'evoluzione, Di Renzo Editore, Roma, 2005

External links

• Ayala's home page
• Biography