Richard Lenski

Timeline

1. 1976–1985

   From beetles to bacteria

   The path starts with an AB from Oberlin College in 1976 and a PhD from the University of North Carolina in 1982, with a thesis on ground beetle populations under Nelson Hairston. A postdoctoral position in Bruce Levin's laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, moves the work from insect ecology to microbiology. The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine, adds Lenski to its faculty in 1985.

2. 1988

   The long-term E. coli experiment

   The Long-Term Evolution Experiment starts in 1988 under Lenski, with 12 independent E. coli populations grown from a single stock. A promotion to associate professor at Irvine comes in 1988 as well. The experiment asks whether evolution repeats.

3. 1991–1996

   Michigan State and a MacArthur Fellowship

   In 1991, the experiment moves to Michigan State University with Lenski, who joins the Center for Microbial Ecology. A Guggenheim Fellowship in 1991 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1996 mark these years.

4. 2003

   Avida and complex features

   A Nature paper in 2003, with Lenski as lead author alongside Charles Ofria, Robert Pennock and Christoph Adami, uses the Avida software, in which digital organisms self-replicate, mutate and compete. Complex logic functions evolve there by building on simpler ones, and Lenski's research time goes to digital organisms as much as to bacteria. Also in 2003, after about 31,000 generations, one of the E. coli populations evolves the ability to use citrate as a food source.

5. 2006–2010

   National Academy and the BEACON Center

   In 2006, the United States National Academy of Sciences elects Lenski. The NSF Science and Technology Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, known as the BEACON Center, has Lenski as a co-founder in 2010 and brings together biologists, computer scientists and engineers.

6. 2018–2021

   Philosophical Society and a lifetime award

   In 2018, the American Philosophical Society elects Lenski to membership. In 2021, the Society for the Study of Evolution gives Lenski its Lifetime Achievement Award.

7. 2022–2025

   Experiment moves to Texas and back

   In 2022, at 75,000 generations, the experiment leaves the Michigan State campus for the University of Texas at Austin, where Lenski's former postdoctoral researcher Jeffrey Barrick takes it over. In 2025, Barrick returns to Michigan State as a Hannah Distinguished Professor and brings the experiment back. The Microbiology Society's Prize Medal 2025 goes to Lenski.

8. As of October 2026

   Distinguished Professor at Michigan State

   At Michigan State University, Lenski is Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology. The Long-Term Evolution Experiment begun in 1988 is back on the Michigan State campus and approaches 100,000 generations.