George Lauder

​Dr. George V. Lauder is a leading American biologist specializing in biomechanics, functional morphology, and biorobotics. He currently holds the position of Henry Bryant Bigelow Professor of Ichthyology at Harvard University and serves as the Cuator of Ichthyology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Additionally, he is a Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. ​

Dr. Lauder's research focuses on the biomechanics of fishes and the development of robotic models to study aquatic locomotion. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of fish locomotion, particularly through the use of digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) techniques. This approach has provided new insights into the hydrodynamics of fish swimming and has informed the design of bio-inspired robotic systems. ​

After completing his undergraduate (A.B., 1976), master's (M.A., 1978), and doctoral (Ph.D., 1979) degrees in biology at Harvard University, Dr. Lauder served as a Junior Fellow at Harvard's Society of Fellows from 1979 to 1981. He then joined the University of Chicago as a faculty member, followed by a tenure at the University of California, Irvine, where he was a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. In 1999, he returned to Harvard University, where he has continued his influential research and teaching. ​

Dr. Lauder's contributions to science have been recognized by his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society. He has also served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Journal of Morphology, and Soft Robotics.