David M. Hillis
The University of Texas at Austin
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Primary Section: 27, Evolutionary Biology Secondary Section: 63, Environmental Sciences and Ecology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2008)
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Biosketch
David M. Hillis is the Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor in Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studies molecular evolution and biodiversity in the Department of Integrative Biology. He is the Director of UT’s Biodiversity Center, and also directs the Dean’s Scholars Program of the College of Natural Sciences. He served as the first Director of UT’s School of Biological Sciences and oversaw the reorganization of the biological sciences at the University of Texas. His work developing, testing, and applying phylogenetic methods has led to the wide application of phylogenetics throughout biology. Dr. Hillis was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and grew up around the world in Europe, Africa, and Asia. He attended high school in Baltimore, Maryland, and then graduated with a degree in biology from Baylor University. He earned his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Kansas. After a few years on the faculty of University of Miami, he moved to the University of Texas at Austin, where he has remained since 1987. He is a John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Fellow, and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the National Academy of Sciences. He has served as President of the Society for the Study of Evolution and the Society of Systematic Biologists.
Research Interests
Evolutionary biology provides a conceptual framework for understanding patterns of molecular diversity. Dr. Hillis's work has helped phylogenetic analyses permeate most fields of molecular biology in recent years, from studies of the epidemiology of human immunodeficiency viruses to studies of the origin of life. Hillis's work is divided into two main areas: empirical studies of molecular evolution and the development of evolutionary theory and methodology. The empirical studies include experimental manipulation of viruses to study evolution in vitro, phylogenetic analyses of highly conserved genes, studies of molecular processes that give rise to new genes or maintain the structure of multigene families, and applications of phylogenetics to understanding species limits and the phylogeny of life. The theoretical and methodological work is centered on finding the best ways to estimate phylogenies from molecular sequences and on simulations of molecular evolution using supercomputers.
