Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall’s life and career feature many extraordinary accomplishments. Here are the highlights.

1934

Jane Goodall is born in London, England.

1936

Jane is given a stuffed chimp, Jubilee, for her second birthday and is enamored.

1944

Jane receives a copy of Dr. Dolittle, beginning her fascination with animals. She dreams of visiting Africa.

1957

After saving money from a waitressing job, Jane goes to Kenya at the invitation of a school friend. There she meets Dr. Louis Leakey, the famous paleontologist. Jane joins one of Dr. Leakey’s digs at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.

1960

Jane arrives at Gombe National Park in Tanzania to study chimpanzees under the mentorship of Dr. Leakey.

1960

Jane watches as a chimpanzee uses a twig to extract termites from a termite mound. This is the first documented case of an animal making and using a tool.

1962

Jane enters Cambridge University as a Ph.D. candidate in ethnology. Though she does not have an undergraduate degree, her work in Africa provides the foundation for her to enter the program.

1962–64

Jane establishes the Gombe Stream Research Centre.

1965

Jane earns her doctorate degree.

1977

Jane establishes the Jane Goodall Institute, which supports the Gombe work and other research, education, conservation, and development programs.

1984

ChimpanZoo is established as a collective effort of the Jane Goodall Institute, zoological facilities, and universities.

1991

Roots and Shoots, a program for young people, is established by the Jane Goodall Institute. The goals of Roots and Shoots are to foster respect and care for all living things and to make the world a better place for the environment, animals, and humans.

1998

Elizabeth Vinson (Lonsdorf) joins researchers at Gombe to study how young chimps learn the complex foraging skills first witnessed by Dr. Goodall in 1960.

2002

Dr. Goodall is appointed a Messenger of Peace for the United Nations. Messengers help mobilize the public to make the world a better place.

2002

The exhibition Discovering Chimpanzees: the Remarkable World of Jane Goodall is created by Science North, Sudbury, Ontario. The IMAX film Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees is created by the Science Museum of Minnesota and Discovery Place, Inc.