Thomas Dyer Seeley

Thomas Dyer Seeley is the Horace White Professor in Biology in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University. He is the author of several books on honeybee behavior, including Honeybee Democracy and The Wisdom of the Hive (1995) He was the recipient of the Humboldt Prize in Biology in 2001. He primarily studies swarm intelligence by investigating how bees collectively make decisions.

Background Seeley was born on June 17, 1952. He grew up in Ellis Hollow, New York, and went to elementary, middle and high schools in Ithaca, New York. As a high school student he held summer jobs with Royse P. Murphy, a plant geneticist at Cornell University, and Roger Morse, at the Dyce Laboratory for Honey Bee Studies at Cornell. Seeley married Robin Hadlock and the couple had two children.

Education Seeley enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1970, intending to follow the premedical curriculum, but changed his focus after reading E. O. Wilson’s book The Insect Societies.

Appointments Seeley held the following academic appointments: In 2017 he was awarded fellowship to American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A species of bee, Neocorynurella seeleyi, was named after him in 1997.

In 2019 he became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Publications Seeley has authored 6 books, at least 1 newspaper article, and over 175 scholarly publications.

Books Honeybee Ecology: A Study of Adaptation in Social Life, published by Princeton University Press Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Beehunting The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners: 20 Mysteries of Honey Bee Behavior Solved, published by Princeton University Press.