Mark A. Norell was born July 26, 1957, in St. Paul, Minnesota and spent most of his formative years (from 1964) in southern California. He received a Bachelor of Science in 1980 from Long Beach State University and a Masters of Science from San Diego State University in 1983. In 1988, he was awarded the John Spanger Nichols prize for best thesis upon completion of his doctoral studies at Yale University. After a year of post-doctoral training studying the molecular genetics of maize, Dr. Norell accepted a curatorial position at the American Museum of Natural History in New York where he is the Chairman of the Department of Paleontology. The author of many scholarly articles, Dr. Norell’s most recent book is entitled Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World.
Mark A. Norell
Chairman of the Department of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History
Participant In These Roundtable Discussions
Sat
May 5th
2012
May 5th
2012
Watch
Where Does It Begin?
This roundtable will examine our curiosity about beginnings, including what constitutes a beginning and how such concepts may apply to both individual consciousness and the universe.
Sat
Apr 22nd
2017
Apr 22nd
2017
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Design in Nature
This roundtable examines the concept of “design” in nature, considering whether the apparent order, efficiency, and aesthetic coherence of natural forms can be understood without invoking external teleology. It explores how ideas of immanent purpose, as discussed in classical philosophy (e.g., Aristotelian thought), relate to modern perspectives grounded in Darwinian evolution and physical first principles, and whether principles from physics, biology, and complex systems can account for the emergence of functional and adaptive structures in nature.