Peter Klopfer

Peter H. Klopfer
Born
Peter Hubert Klopfer

(1930-08-09) August 9, 1930 (age 94)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California at Los Angeles
Yale University
Known forEthology
Research on lemurs
Scientific career
FieldsZoology
InstitutionsDuke University
Thesis An Analysis of Learning in Young Anatidae  (1957)

Peter Hubert Klopfer (born August 9, 1930)[1] is a German-born American zoologist, civil rights advocate and educator. He is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Duke University, where in 1966 he co-founded, with John Buettner-Janusch, the Duke Lemur Center (formerly Duke Primate Center).[2] This facility houses the largest living collection of endangered primates in the world.[3]

Peter Klopfer is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1963) and the Animal Behavior Society (1968).[4] In 1979–80 he received the Humboldt Research Award for his achievements in the field of Sensory and Behavioral Biology.[5]

As a scientist Klopfer has authored, co-authored or edited twenty-five volumes and more than 125 peer-reviewed articles, most in the field of animal behavior. Among other contributions, Klopfer's research helped to establish the link between oxytocin and maternal attachment behavior[6] and to initiate study of neural processes involved in hibernation among primates[7]

As a civil rights advocate Klopfer was jailed in 1964 for protesting segregated restaurant facilities in Orange County, North Carolina.[8] He subsequently became the plaintiff in the 1967 United States Supreme Court case, Klopfer v. North Carolina, which upheld that the Speedy Trial Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to individual states in the same way as it does to the federal government.[9]

As an educator Klopfer and his wife, Martha Smith Klopfer, were among the Quakers who founded Carolina Friends School in 1962.[10] CFS was one of the first schools in the modern South that welcomed children of all races.[11]

  1. ^ "Guide to the Peter H. Klopfer Papers, 1957-1980s". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  2. ^ Markis, John (2019-04-24). "From lemurs to poisoned chocolate: The tale of a Lemur Center founder". Duke Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  3. ^ "History and Mission". Duke Lemur Center. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  4. ^ "Duke Department of Biology". fds.duke.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  5. ^ Klopfer, Peter (1979-08-01). "Humboldt Foundation". Humboldt Foundation. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  6. ^ Epstein, Randi Hutter (2018). Aroused: the history of hormones and how they control just about everything. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 218–222. ISBN 978-0-393-35708-0. OCLC 1107492740.
  7. ^ Casarett, David (2014). Shocked : adventures in bringing back the recently dead. New York, New York: Current (Penguin). pp. 119–23. ISBN 978-1-59184-671-0. OCLC 870085094.
  8. ^ Ehle, John (2007). The Free Men. Lewisville, NC: Press 53. pp. 145–46. ISBN 978-0-9793049-1-0.
  9. ^ Mosnier, Joseph (1966). "The Demise of an "Extraordinary Criminal Procedure": Klopfer v. North Carolina and the Incorporation of the Sixth Amendment's Speedy Trial Provision". Journal of Supreme Court History. 21 (2): 136–60. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5818.1996.tb00054.x.
  10. ^ Klopfer, Martha and Peter. "Love, Experience, and Reflection". Health and Healing. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  11. ^ Huff, Carrie (2015). 27 Views of Carolina Friends School. Durham, NC: Pine Bough Press. p. 175. ISBN 9780692295595.