Matthew White Ridley, DPHIL, DSC: a conversation with the editor

M. W. Ridley and W. C. Roberts

Matt Ridley, DPhil, DSc, was born on February 7, 1958, in Newcastle upon Tyne. He graduated from Magdalen College of Oxford University with a degree in zoology in 1979 and he received his doctorate at the same university in 1983. From there he joined The Economist, initially as a science correspondent and then as the science and technology editor in London. Later, he was their correspondent in Washington, DC, and finally their American editor in London again. In 1992, he left The Economist and became a freelance journalist, becoming a regular columnist for the Sunday Telegraph and for the Daily Telegraph for the next 8 years. During this time, he also wrote many articles for numerous other publications in both the United Kingdom (UK) and the USA. His first book, which was on the US presidential election of 1988, appeared in 1989. Subsequently, he authored The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue, the international bestseller Genome, and Nature Via Nurture. For his work he has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Buckingham in 2003. He honored Baylor University Medical Center with a visit on March 18, 2004. It was a pleasure to visit with this splendid man.