Francisco Ayala (b. 1934) is a Spanish-American evolutionary biologist and a geneticist at the University of California, Irvine. Ayala is best known for his research on evolutionary genetics and his philosophical stance that there that there is no inherent contradiction between science and religion. Ayala became a citizen of the United States in 1971. He has served as the president and chairman for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2001, Ayala was awarded the National Medal of Science. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Templeton Prize. Ayala donated the 1.42 million dollar prize to charity.
Ayala had published several books including Am I a Monkey?: Six Questions about Evolution, Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion, and On Being a Scientist. Click here to view Ayala's works available at the Milwaukee Public Library.
