Randolph M. Nesse

Dr. Randolph M. Nesse is an American physician, scientist, and author recognized as a founder of the fields of evolutionary medicine and evolutionary psychiatry. After a career spanning four decades in psychiatry, psychology, and the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Nesse moved to Arizona State University to establish the Center for Evolution and Medicine. At Michigan, he led the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program and contributed to the establishment of one of the first anxiety disorders clinics. His clinical and academic work has contributed to a new approach to understanding human health through the lens of natural selection.

Nesse's collaboration with evolutionary biologist George C. Williams resulted in the co-authored book "Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine," which has influenced the growth of evolutionary medicine. His earlier paper in Quarterly Review of Biology with Williams synthesized ideas that continue to shape the field. Nesse's research has focused on how natural selection influences mechanisms that regulate pain, fever, anxiety, and low mood, and on the prevalence of emotional disorders. He has also written about the evolutionary origins of moral emotions and advocated for establishing evolutionary biology as a foundational science for medicine.

Building on this work, Nesse authored "Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry," offering a framework for understanding mental illness through evolutionary psychiatry. Instead of asking why certain individuals experience mental illness, Nesse examines why natural selection has left humans with vulnerabilities in mental health, drawing on clinical experience and evolutionary biology to explain the adaptive value and potential drawbacks of negative emotions. He continues to advance evolutionary psychiatry, a subspecialty focused on understanding the evolutionary basis for mental disorders.

At Arizona State University, Nesse has served as professor of life sciences and ASU Foundation Professor, and was the founding director of the Center for Evolution and Medicine. He also established the International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, which connects scientists, scholars, and clinicians to apply evolutionary biology principles to disease prevention and treatment. Nesse was the initial organizer and second president of Human Behavior and Evolution Society.

Nesse has been elected a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the highest level of fellowship within the organization, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his work in evolutionary medicine. He received the Friend of Darwin Award from the National Center for Science Education. Through research, publications, and institution-building, Nesse has contributed to the intersection of evolutionary biology, psychiatry, and human health.