Ephraim Cauley

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Lore & Background

Cohen grew up in Washington, D.C., and Michigan, graduating from Cranbrook School in 1961. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 1965, a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Harvard in 1970, and a second doctorate in population sciences and tropical public health from Harvard in 1973. He received an honorary master's degree from the University of Cambridge in 1974. He has taught or lectured at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, the National University of San Luis in Argentina, the Central University of Venezuela, and the University of California, Berkeley. He held fellowships with the Harvard Society of Fellows, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He was named 'One of America's Top 100 Young Scientists' by Science Digest in 1984. His awards include the Sheps Award from the Population Association of America in 1992, the Distinguished Statistical Ecologist Award in 1994, the first Olivia Schieffelin Nordberg Award 'for excellence in writing in the population sciences' in 1997, the Fred L. Soper Prize in 1998 from the Pan American Health Organization for collaborative work on Chagas' disease, and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1999. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, and has served on the governing boards of all three. He served as a Special Master and member of the Selection Panel in the silicone gel breast implant products liability litigation before the United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama (Southern Division) in 1996, and as a U.S. Federal Court-appointed neutral expert for projection of asbestos-related claims against the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust in the combined asbestos litigation in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York from 1991 to 1995. He was a consultant to the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy on the epidemiology of asbestos-related diseases from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the Board of Directors of The Nature Conservancy from 2000 to 2009, co-chairing the Science Council from 2005 to 2009. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York State Nature Conservancy from 2001 to 2010, the Population Reference Bureau from 2004 to 2010, and the Committee on Science, Technology and Law of the National Research Council from 2000 to 2009.

In Their Own Story

Joel Cohen married Audrey J. Biller in 1970; they were married until 2002. Their son is Adam Cohen, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and of Physics at Harvard University. Their daughter is Zoe Cohen, a manager at Doximity in San Francisco. Cohen is the author or editor of 14 books and over 370 articles, including 'Food webs and niche space,' 'How Many People Can the Earth Support?,' 'Comparison of Stochastic Matrices, with Applications in Information Theory, Statistics, Economics and Population Sciences,' 'Forecasting Product Liability Claims: Epidemiology and Modeling in the Manville Asbestos Case,' 'Educating All Children: A Global Agenda,' 'International Perspectives on the Goals of Universal Basic and Secondary Education,' 'Mathematics Is Biology's Next Microscope,' 'Human population: the next half century,' 'The population biology of invasive species,' and 'Food web patterns and their consequences.'

Reader's Guide

When exploring Joel Cohen's work, focus on his dual doctorates from Harvard in applied mathematics (1970) and population sciences and tropical public health (1973). His research spans food webs, human population limits, and mathematical modeling in epidemiology and law. Key awards include the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1999) and the Fred L. Soper Prize (1998). His roles as a court-appointed expert in asbestos litigation (1991–1995) and as a Special Master in breast implant litigation (1996) highlight his applied work. For his publications, start with 'How Many People Can the Earth Support?' and 'Mathematics Is Biology's Next Microscope.' His board service with The Nature Conservancy (2000–2009) and the Population Reference Bureau (2004–2010) shows his commitment to environmental and population issues.

Did You Know?

• Joel Cohen earned two separate doctorates from Harvard University: a Ph.D. in applied mathematics in 1970 and a second doctorate in population sciences and tropical public health in 1973.
• He was named 'One of America's Top 100 Young Scientists' by Science Digest in 1984.
• Cohen served as a U.S. Federal Court-appointed neutral expert for projecting asbestos-related claims against the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust from 1991 to 1995.
• He received the Fred L. Soper Prize in 1998 from the Pan American Health Organization for collaborative work on Chagas' disease.
• Cohen co-chaired the Science Council of The Nature Conservancy from 2005 to 2009 while serving on its Board of Directors.