Kevin Padian

Who is Kevin Padian?

Kevin Padian is a Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Curator of Paleontology, University of California Museum of Paleontology and President of the National Center for Science Education. Padian's area of interest is in vertebrate evolution, especially the origins of flight and the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs. He served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial, and his testimony was repeatedly cited in the court's decision.

Padian received a bachelor's degree in Natural Science and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching from Colgate University, and a Ph.D. from Yale University, where he focused on the evolution of flight in pterosaurs. In addition to his work at Berkeley, Padian taught science in high school and was principal author of the California Science Framework K–12. In 2003 he received Wonderfest's Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization.

He has cowritten several papers with John R. Horner and Armand de Ricqlès based on histological analysis of fossil bones from the UCMP as well as the Museum of the Rockies.

Padian has authored over 100 scientific articles.