Lee Gettler, professor of anthropology, elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

On Thursday, March 27, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced the 2024 class of AAAS Fellows including Lee Gettler, the Rev. John A. O’Brien College Professor of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame.
The 2024 class comprises 471 scientists, engineers and innovators across two dozen disciplines including anthropology, astronomy, biological sciences, chemistry, engineering and physics. AAAS is one of the world’s largest general scientific societies, and to be elected as a fellow is a lifetime honor.
“Professor Lee Gettler’s election to the American Association for the Advancement of Science is a well-deserved recognition of his superb scholarship and continued dedication to advancing our understanding of fatherhood, family dynamics and human development,” said John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost. “We are proud to congratulate him as an alumnus and a member of Notre Dame’s distinguished faculty.”
Gettler was recognized for his distinguished contributions to the fields of biological anthropology and human biology, particularly in the areas of male physiology and the evolution of human fathering.
His research, which has been funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the Jacobs Foundation among others, has focused on how men’s hormone physiology responds to major life transitions, such as marriage and fatherhood, and how men’s hormones relate to their behavior as parents and partners. Gettler draws on this work to frame questions about fathers’ roles in the evolutionary past. He has expanded his research to include studying variation in family life, parents’ health and child physiology.
AAAS launched its lifetime fellowship recognition in 1874, about 25 years after the association was founded. This first cohort included Rev. Joseph Celestine Basile Carrier, C.S.C., who in 1865 became the first director of the newly established College of Science at the University of Notre Dame.
More on Gettler’s research:
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to addressing men’s health issues globally
New study first to define link between testosterone and fathers’ social roles outside the family
Gettler is chair of the Department of Anthropology, director of Notre Dame’s Hormones, Health and Human Behavior Lab, and a faculty affiliate of the Eck Institute for Global Health and the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families.
Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu
Latest ND NewsWire
- World’s biggest polluters are least affected by environmental damage and conflict, new research warnsThe world's largest polluters are also the safest from the environmental damage they help create — while the countries least to blame face the greatest threats, including the increased possibility of violent conflict. These findings, from a new study co-authored by a University of Notre Dame researcher, highlight inequalities that harm the Global South.
- de Nicola Center Presents Evangelium Vitae Medal to Anthony & Phyllis LauingerThe de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to Anthony J. and Phyllis W. Lauinger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 400 guests on May 3, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame.
- Kenneth Scheve appointed dean of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and LettersKenneth Scheve, the Dean Acheson Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs and the dean of social science at Yale University, has been appointed the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters by University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. Scheve, who will also hold a tenured faculty position in the Department of Political Science, begins a five-year term as dean on July 1.
- Notre Dame to convene government, industry and academic leaders to set regulatory roadmap for responsible social mediaTo address the challenges posed by social media use and its effects on democracy, the University of Notre Dame is hosting the Council for Responsible Social Media and Issue One on May 27-29. Led by Notre Dame’s Democracy Initiative, this National Convening on Social Media and Democracy will bring together leaders and scholars to discuss policy changes that set a serious national agenda for the next several years of governance on social media and technology, particularly as it relates to improving democratic outcomes.
- Notre Dame’s top research position endowed as John and Catherine Martin Family Vice President for ResearchJeffrey F. Rhoads, who leads Notre Dame Research, including its efforts in innovation and commercialization through the IDEA Center, will now hold the title of John and Catherine Martin Family Vice President for Research.
- Notre Dame to confer 3,099 degrees over Commencement Weekend, May 17-18The University of Notre Dame’s 180th Commencement Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 18, in Notre Dame Stadium.