POLLY W WIESSNER portrait
  • Research Professor, Anthropology Department
  • Professor, Anthropology Department
801-897-4050

Internal Service

  • Co-Director of the Health, Society and Policy Program. 09/2003 - present. College service.

Honors & Awards

  • Distinguished Professor. University of Utah , 05/2015
  • Elected to National Academy of Sciences. National Academy of Sciences, 05/01/2014
  • Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award. University of Utah , 05/2009

In the Media

  • 'Vengeance' Bites Back at Jared Diamond by Michael Balter. Science 324(5929). 10/15/2009.
  • A Conversation with Pauline Wiessner: Where Gifts and Stories are Crucial to Survival. New York Times Science 05/26/2009. 05/26/2009.
  • 2014 Campfire stories may have spurred early societal learning. LA Times, Sept. 23 2014 . 09/2014.
  • 2014 Fireside tales. The Economist. September 20 2014. 09/2014.
  • Why light bulbs have undone family ties, Times of London, Sept. 23 2014. 09/2014.
  • 2014 Campfires Helped Inspire Community Culture. Alison Gopnik, Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2014. 08/2014.
  • Turning from War to Peace in Papua New Guinea by Elizabeth Culotta, Science Magazine, vol. 337, September 28, 2012. 09/28/2012.
  • Gifts v. Gunfire: Utah anthropologist studies how tribal customs halt wars by Brian Maffly, Salt Lake Tribune, September 27. 09/27/2012.
  • In New Guinea Peace comes with a Price by Bruce Bower, Science News, September 27, 2012. 09/27/2012.
  • Pauline Wiessner. Anthropologist Brings Worlds Together. Science Magazine (AAAS). 08/13/2010. http://www.sciencemag.org.content/329/5993/743/ful...
  • Smith, E. A., Hill, K., Marlowe, F. W., Nolin, D., Wiessner, P., Gurven, M., Bowles, S., Mulder, M. B., Hertz, T., & Bell, A. (2010). Wealth transmission and inequality among hunter-gatherers. Current Anthropology, 51(1), 19-34. February. 02/2010. http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/usp...
  • Wiessner, P. W. (2002). Vines of complexity - egalitarian structures and the institutionalization of inequality among the Enga. Current Anthropology, 43(2), 233-69. 04/2002. http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/usp...
  • Wiessner, P. W. (1998). On network analysis: the potential for understanding (and misunderstanding) !Kung Hxaro. Current Anthropology, 39(4), 514-7. 08/1998. http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/usp...
  • Wiessner, P. W. (1998). On emergency decisions, egalitarianism, and group selection. Current Anthropology, 39(3), 356-8. 06/1998. http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/usp...