Jane Goodall, scientist, conservationist, and humanitarian, passed away on October 1st, 2025, while on a speaking tour in California. Jane passed peacefully in her sleep from natural causes, according to the Jane Goodall Institute.
Born on April 3rd, Jane would join a very intelligent household from the start. Her mother, Margaret Myfanwe Joseph, was the author of Unveiling Man’s Origins (Routledge Revivals): Ten Decades of Thought About Human Evolution, and her father was a record-breaking race car driver. Jane also has a little sister, Judith Goodall.
Dr. Jane attended the University of Cambridge, where she acquired her Ph.D. in ethology with no undergraduate degree, which was very rare for the time. “Jane’s doctoral thesis, The Behaviour of Free-living Chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve, was completed in 1965. Her three-month study evolved into an extraordinary research program lasting decades, and it is still ongoing today.” According to the Jane Goodall Institute.
That doctoral thesis would go on the become what Jane was most known for, making it into the longest continuous field study in history, on top of being a UN Messenger of Peace. Jane also created Roots & Shoes USA, a youth program created to teach students about making a change and creating positive community change.
Jane was recognized in many different ways. “In 2002, she was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Two years later, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) at Buckingham Palace. Jane was also awarded the United States Presidential Medial of Freedom, the French Légion d’honneur, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Ghandi-King Award for Nonviolence, the Medal of Tanzania, and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.”
Jane had one son, writer Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, born in 1967 with her second husband. Due to Jane’s ongoing research at the time she had her son, Gombe Stream National Park was one of his homes, where he spent a lot of his early childhood life. She even went as far as to build him his own cage away from her research to protect him from the threat these chimpanzees may pose.
Jane Goodall is widely celebrated as one of the most influential figures in the field of primatology. Her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees in the wild has transformed our understanding of these remarkable creatures and their complex social behaviors. Without her contributions, many aspects of chimpanzee behavior and their ecological importance might have remained largely unknown to the general public.
Goodall’s work not only paved the way for future generations of researchers but also inspired countless individuals to advocate for wildlife conservation and animal welfare.
