Michael Tomasello
Michael Tomasello is a psychologist whose research covers cognitive processes in primates and language acquisition in humans. He studied psychology at Duke University, held a professorship at Emory University, and in 1998 was appointed co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. He received a Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science in 2010 and the Rumelhart Prize in 2021. A 2025 paper in Trends in Cognitive Sciences argues that the quest to make AI models more human-like could profit from studying biological agents and their evolution. As of October 2026 he is a Distinguished Professor at Duke.
- Now at
- Duke University and Max Planck Society
- Works
- 1,039
- Citations
- 135,987
- h-index
- 182
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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1950–1972
Psychology studies at Duke
Born in Bartow, Florida, in 1950, he studies psychology at Duke University. He earns a B.A. there in 1972.
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1980s
Psychology and anthropology at Emory
He becomes professor of psychology and then of anthropology at Emory University in Atlanta, a post he holds during the 1980s and 1990s.
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1998
Max Planck co-director in Leipzig
In 1998 he is appointed researcher and co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
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2010–2011
A Heineken and a Wiley prize
In 2010 he wins a Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science, for work on cognitive processes in primates and language acquisition in humans. In 2011 he is named recipient of the Wiley Prize in Psychology.
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2016–2017
Returning to Duke as professor
He returns to Duke, his undergraduate alma mater, as a professor in 2016. In 2017 he is elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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2021
The David E. Rumelhart Prize
In 2021 he is awarded the David E. Rumelhart Prize, a cognitive psychology award.
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2025
A paper on artificial agents
In 2025 he publishes a paper in Trends in Cognitive Sciences. The paper argues that the quest to make AI models more human-like could profit from studying biological agents and their evolution.
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As of October 2026
James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor
As of October 2026 he is James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor at Duke, and the Linguistics Program lists him among its faculty.
Sources and credits
Photo: Karl-Heinz Schalk, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
- Michael Tomasello — Heineken Prizes
- Tomasello Elected to National Academy of Sciences | Duke Today
- Michael Tomasello - Wikipedia
- British Academy and Wiley-Blackwell Announce Result of 2011 Wiley Prize
- Michael Tomasello Awarded Cognitive Science Prize | Duke Today
- How to make artificial agents more like natural agents
- People | PROGRAM in LINGUISTICS