Biruté Galdikas '66, M.A. '69, Ph.D. '78

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Biruté Galdikas '66, M.A. '69, Ph.D. '78, one of the world's most prominent researchers in Orangutans, passed away March 24 at age 79.

On Facebook, the Center for Great Apes posted a remembrance, stating, "While her loss leaves a void in the forests of Borneo, her legacy lives on in many Indonesian sanctuaries who work so hard to rescue and rehabilitate orangutans...

"For over five decades, Dr. Galdikas dedicated her life to orangutans — the 'gardeners of the forest,' transforming our understanding of these elusive great apes.

"Dr. Galdikas’s journey began at age 25 when she convinced Louis Leakey to support her quest into the wild. She became one of 'Leakey’s Angels,' along with Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, also known as the 'Trimates.' As she stepped into the dense rainforests of Borneo over 50 years ago, Birutė began one of the longest continuous studies of a single wild primate species in history.

"Biruté was more than a scientist; she was a protector. She spent decades rehabilitating orphaned orangutans — many of them former illegal pets — giving them a second chance at a life in the forest canopy. Through her organization, the Orangutan Foundation International, she fought against the encroachment of logging and palm oil plantations. Her legacy lives on in the hundreds of orphaned orangutans she rehabilitated and the rainforest she fought to protect."

Galdikas earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and her graduate degrees in anthropology.