David Penny


Edward David Penny CNZM FRSNZ is a theoretical biologist from New Zealand and evolutionary biologist.

Academic career

He completed undergraduate degrees in botany and chemistry at the University of Canterbury, and received his PhD in Biology at Yale University. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at McMaster University.
He was co-director of the Allan Wilson Centre at Massey University between 2002 and 2010.
He was awarded the Marsden Medal in 2000 for services to science and the profession of science, and he was given the Rutherford Medal in 2004 for contributions to theoretical biology, molecular evolution and the analysis of DNA.
In 2005 he was named a Distinguished Professor at Massey University and made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. After retiring in 2017 he became a Professor Emeritus.
In 2018 he became the third New Zealander to be named a National Academy of Sciences foreign associate.

Research

His research has focused on theoretical biology, molecular evolution, human evolution, and the history of science.

Selected works