Walter Wilczynski (September 18, 1952, in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

) was an American ethologist, neuroscientist, and professor at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

(GSU) in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Early life and education

Wilczynski was born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

in 1974, after which he received his Ph.D. in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1978. He then completed his

postdoc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

at the Section of Neurobiology and Behavior at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he worked in the lab of Robert Capranica.

Career

In 1983, Wilczynski joined the faculty of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

of psychology. He remained on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin until 2005, when he joined the faculty of GSU. While at the University of Texas at Austin, he helped found the Institute for Neuroscience and the interdisciplinary neuroscience Ph.D. program there. At GSU, he became a professor of psychology upon joining their faculty in 2005. He has been the co-director of research and academic programs at GSU's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience since 2005, and had been the director of GSU's Neuroscience Institute since it was formed in 2008. In 2013, he received a five-year, $499,209 grant from the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

to create the Sociogenomics Initiative Research Coordination Network, which unites researchers in the U.S. and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

working in the field of

sociogenomics Sociogenomics, also known as social genomics, is the field of research that examines why and how different social factors and processes (e.g., social stress, conflict, isolation, attachment, etc.) affect the activity of the genome. Social genomics ...

Research

Wilczynski's research focused on the study of neural origins of social behavior in animals. This research drew upon multiple separate disciplines, including

neuroanatomy Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

, and

neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience that studies nervous system function rather than nervous system architecture. This area aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases. Historically, it has been dominated b ...

. Animals whose behavior he studied include multiple

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

species, such as

cricket frog Cricket frogs, genus ''Acris'', are small, North American frogs of the family Hylidae. They occur in northern Mexico ( Coahuila), the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and in southern Ontario, Canada. They are more aquatic than other ...

American green tree frog The American green tree frog (''Dryophytes cinereus'' or ''Hyla cinerea'') is a common arboreal species of New World tree frog belonging to the family Hylidae. This nocturnal insectivore is moderately sized and has a bright green to reddish-brow ...

s, and

túngara frog The Túngara frog (''Engystomops pustulosus'') is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is a small nocturnal terrestrial frog found in Mexico, Central America, and the northeastern regions of South America. The tungara frog exhibi ...

Awards and memberships

Wilczynski was a member of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

, among other organizations. He was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in 2016.

Editorial activities

Wilczynski was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''

Brain, Behavior and Evolution ''Brain, Behavior and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering evolutionary neurobiology. It was established in 1968 with Walter Riss as the founding editor-in-chief; he remained the editor until 1986. Subsequent editors included ...

'' from 1999 to 2009. He was also an editorial board member of the ''

Journal of Zoology The ''Journal of Zoology'' is a scientific journal concerning zoology, the study of animals. It was founded in 1830 by the Zoological Society of London and is published by Wiley-Blackwell. It carries original research papers, which are targeted t ...

'' (2007–2010) and an associate editor of ''

Animal Behaviour Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

'' (1997–2000).

References

External links

Faculty page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilczynski, Walter 1952 births 2020 deaths Ethologists American neuroscientists Georgia State University faculty People from Trenton, New Jersey Academic journal editors Lehigh University alumni University of Michigan faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty