James W. Valentine

James W. Valentine
James Valentine in 1991.
Born(1926-11-10)November 10, 1926
DiedApril 7, 2023(2023-04-07) (aged 96)
EducationPhillips University, University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D., 1958)
Known forEvolution (1977), with Theodosius Dobzhansky, G. Ledyard Stebbins and Francisco J. Ayala
SpouseDiane Mondragon
Children3
AwardsFulbright scholar, Australia, Guggenheim fellow, National Academy of Sciences
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Missouri, University of California, Davis, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Berkeley

James William Valentine (November 10, 1926 – April 7, 2023) was an American evolutionary biologist, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and curator at the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Valentine was born in Los Angeles, California on November 10, 1926. He was educated at Phillips University, (B.A., 1951) and the University of California, Los Angeles (M.A., 1954, Ph.D., 1958). Valentine married Diane Mondragon in 1987 and had 3 children. He died in Walnut Creek, California, on April 7, 2023, at the age of 96.