The American Association of Biological Anthropologists and Leakey Foundation Communication and Outreach Award in Honor of Camilla M. Smith

The American Association of Biological Anthropologists and Leakey Foundation Communication and Outreach Award in Honor of Camilla M. Smith is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding public communication and educational outreach efforts in the field of biological anthropology.

The award was established in 2019 to recognize the importance and urgency of promoting scientific literacy, clarity of message, and efforts to foster respect and understanding for the variation, adaptation, and evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives. It was renamed in 2021 in honor of outgoing Leakey Foundation President, Camilla M. Smith.

About Camilla Smith

Camilla Smith is a philanthropist whose work is focused on education. She joined The Leakey Foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2004 and served as president from 2015-2021. She also serves on the boards of the National Public Radio Foundation, Teachers College Columbia University, the University of California Berkeley Library, San Francisco State University Foundation, San Francisco Conservatory, San Francisco, KQED Public Radio, Science Friday, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the Interfaith Center at the Presidio.

An accomplished writer and editor, Mrs. Smith worked at G.P. Putnam’s Sons publishers, Columbia University’s Teachers College Press, the New York City Board of Education, and the Japanese American Citizen’s League. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University and a master’s degree at Columbia University Teachers College.

2021 Award Recipient

Dr. Briana Pobiner

Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Program
The George Washington University