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Martin Nowak

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Template:Short description Template:Peacock Template:Infobox scientist Martin Andreas Nowak (born April 7, 1965)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Wax" /> is an Austrian-born professor of mathematics and biology at Harvard University. He is a researcher in evolutionary dynamics,<ref name="Wax">Template:Cite news</ref> and has made contributions to the fields of evolutionary theory and viral dynamics.

He held faculty positions at Oxford University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, before being recruited by Harvard in 2003. During this time, Jeffrey Epstein funded a portion of Nowak's work, helping to set up a center for studying cooperation in evolution.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was the director of Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) from 2003 until 2020. He was suspended from supervising undergraduate research for two years and his institute permanently closed due to Epstein’s continued use of a personal office in the PED building for over ten years after his conviction for sex crimes.<ref name="harvmag">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and educationEdit

Nowak was born in Vienna, Austria, on April 7, 1965.<ref name="Wax" /> He studied at Albertus Magnus Gymnasium and the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in biochemistry and mathematics in 1989. He worked with Peter Schuster on quasispecies theory, and with Karl Sigmund on evolution of cooperation. Nowak received the highest Austrian honors (Sub auspiciis Praesidentis) when awarded his degree.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1993, he received his habilitation at the Institute of Mathematics, University of Vienna. In 2001, he was elected into the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

CareerEdit

From 1989 to 1998, Nowak worked at the University of Oxford with Robert May. First, he was an Erwin Schrödinger Postdoctoral Scholar, then a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College and Keble College. From 1992, he was a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow.<ref name=paynerj>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref> From 1997 to 1998, Nowak was a professor of mathematical biology.<ref name=nowak_sigmund>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref>

In 1998, Martin Nowak was recruited by the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and was Head of the Institute's first Initiative in Theoretical Biology from 1998 until 2003. In 2003, Nowak joined Harvard University as a Professor of Mathematics and Biology.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> Nowak was also co-director, with Sarah Coakley, of the Evolution and Theology of Cooperation project at Harvard University, sponsored by the Templeton Foundation,<ref>Evolution and Theology of Cooperation</ref> where he was also a member of their Board of Advisors.<ref>About Us : Who We Are : Board of Advisors Template:Webarchive</ref> He was appointed Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The PED was funded with a large sum of money from the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation.<ref>Financier pledges $30 million to support Harvard researcher, The Associated Press, 7 February 2003</ref> In 2003, Epstein had introduced himself as a science philanthropist, cementing the initial interaction with a large donation to Harvard.<ref name="nymag">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Nowak's team had received US$6.5 million between 2003 and 2006, but they did not receive any additional funds after 2007.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After Epstein's 2008 conviction, Harvard president Drew Faust decided that the university would no longer accept his donations. A report, commissioned by the university, found that Nowak allowed Epstein to visit the PED offices more than 40 times after his conviction,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to maintain an office with a phone line and webpage, and to interact with students at PED. In 2020, the university placed Nowak on paid academic leave for violation of campus policies including professional conduct and campus access.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="harvmag" /> In 2021, Harvard decided a proportionate response to the severity of Nowak's failure to follow Harvard policies, closing the institute founded with Epstein's money, and donating the remaining money to a foundation helping victims of sexual assault. Harvard also imposed a two year ban on Nowak that barred him from supervising undergraduate research or further supervising new graduate students or postdoctoral fellows. He was also banned from acting as the principal investigator of new grants.<ref name="harvmag" /> Nowak said he would "take the lessons from this time with me as I move forward".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> The sanctions against Nowak were lifted in 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Academic researchEdit

Martin Nowak contributed to various scientific disciplines, including evolutionary game theory, virology, cancer dynamics, the evolution of cooperation, and the origins of language. Throughout his career, Nowak has collaborated with notable figures such as Robert May, Karl Sigmund, and John Maynard Smith.

Nowak has authored books and scientific papers on topics in evolutionary game theory, cancer, viruses, infectious disease, the evolution of language, and the evolution of cooperation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> At Oxford, he helped to establish the fields of virus dynamics<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref> and spatial games<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref> (which later became evolutionary graph theory). He maintained a collaboration with Karl Sigmund in game theory.<ref name="nowak_sigmund" /> He collaborated with John Maynard Smith on genetic redundancy,<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref> with Baruch Blumberg on hepatitis B virus,<ref name="paynerj" /> and with Robert May as well as George Shaw and Andrew McMichael on HIV.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref><ref name=":3" />

In 1990, Nowak and Robert May proposed a mathematical model which aimed to explain the delay between HIV infection and AIDS. in terms of the evolution of different strains of the virus during individual infections, to the point where the genetic diversity of the virus reaches a threshold whereby the immune system can no longer control it.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref>

At Harvard, Nowak continued his work on virus dynamics, cancer dynamics, and evolutionary game theory. In 2004, he established evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2005 and 2006 he wrote papers establishing evolutionary graph theory.<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Primary source inline</ref> In 2006, he suggested that cooperation was a third fundamental principle of evolution beside mutation and selection.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2007, he proposed a theory for the origin of life that views it through competition with its chemical precursors.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In a 2008 paper, he suggested that punishment behavior does not encourage the evolution of cooperation, and describes that behavior as maladaptive.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2006, Nowak enunciated and unified the mathematical rules for the five understood bases of the evolution of cooperation (kin selection, direct reciprocity, indirect reciprocity, network reciprocity, and group selection) which published as a paper in Science. Nowak suggests that evolution is constructive because of cooperation, and that we might add “natural cooperation” as a third fundamental principle of evolution beside mutation and natural selection.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2007, Nowak and colleagues demonstrated that the transition of irregular verbs to regular verbs in English over time obeys a simple inverse-square law, thus providing one of the first quantitative laws in the evolution of language which featured on the front cover of Nature.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2010, Nowak, with E. O. Wilson, and Corina Tarnita, in Nature, argued that standard natural selection theory represents a simpler and superior approach to kin selection theory in the evolution of eusociality.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This work has led to many comments including strong criticism from proponents of inclusive fitness theory.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Nowak maintains that the findings of the paper are conclusive and that the field of social evolution should move beyond inclusive fitness theory.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

He has over 300 scientific publications, of which 40 are in Nature and 15 in Science.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Nowak's research interests include:

Published booksEdit

Aside from his scientific career, Nowak has also authored five books. His 2006 work Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equation of Life received praise for its unique perspective on theoretical biology and won the R.R. Hawkins Award. In 2011, he co-authored SuperCooperators, which argues for cooperation as a fundamental principle of evolution and garnered positive reviews. Additionally, Nowak has edited books, including Evolution, Games, and God, which examines the relationship between theology and evolutionary theory. Nowak identifies himself as a Roman Catholic, advocating for the compatibility of science and religion in the pursuit of truth. His 2024 book, Beyond, is a poetic exploration of the connection between religion and science. In 2015, he received the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology at Berkeley.

Nowak's first book Virus Dynamics: Mathematical Principles of Immunology and Virology, written with Robert May, was published by Oxford University Press in 2001.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nowak's 2006 book Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life discusses the evolution of various biological processes. Reviewing Evolutionary Dynamics in Nature, Sean Nee called it a "unique book" that "should be on the shelf of anyone who has, or thinks they might have, an interest in theoretical biology."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The book received the Association of American Publishers' R.R. Hawkins Award for the Outstanding Professional, Reference or Scholarly Work of 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Nowak's book SuperCooperators: The Mathematics of Evolution, Altruism and Human Behaviour (Or, Why We Need Each Other to Succeed), co-authored with Roger Highfield, was published in 2011. SuperCooperators is both an autobiography of Nowak and a popular presentation of his work in mathematical biology on the evolution of cooperation, the origin of life, and the evolution of language. In the book, Nowak argues that cooperation is the third fundamental principle of evolution, next to mutation and natural selection. SuperCooperators received positive reviews in The New York Times, Nature, and the Financial Times.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

With Sarah Coakley, Nowak edited the 2013 book Evolution, Games, and God: The Principle of Cooperation, published by Harvard University Press. The volume features articles from experts in multiple fields who explore the interplay between theology and evolutionary theory as pertaining to cooperation and altruism.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

AwardsEdit

Nowak is a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He won the Weldon Memorial Prize, the Albert Wander Prize, the Akira Okubo Prize, the David Starr Jordan Prize<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Henry Dale Prize.

Personal lifeEdit

Nowak is a Roman Catholic.<ref name="discover">Template:Cite news</ref> In a 2007 lecture at Harvard, he argued that science and religion occupied different but complementary roles in humans' search for meaning, stating: "Science and religion are two essential components in the search for truth. Denying either is a barren approach."<ref name="Gazette">Template:Cite news</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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