Edward O. Wilson, an entomologist and biologist known for his work on evolution and sociobiology, attended UT in 1950–51. He is credited with coining the term biodiversity. He won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for Human Nature and a second Pulitzer in 1991, with Bert Hölldobler, for The Ants. Wilson received the BS and MS in biology from the University of Alabama and the PhD from Harvard. He was the first person to receive both the United States’ National Medal of Science (1976) and the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1990). He was blinded in his right eye in a childhood accident, and he lost part of his hearing as an adolescent.
In 1995 Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential people in America, and in 1996 an international poll ranked him one of the 100 most influential scientists of all time. He is a member of the National Academy of Science. He has received hundreds of awards and more than 25 honorary doctorate degrees, one of which he received from UT Knoxville in December 2014. He served on the faculty of Harvard University throughout his career.
Wilson is the founder of sociobiology. He was the first person to identify the existence of fire ants in the United States.