the prestigious President's Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Irvine from 1988 to 1990. Career Graves joined the faculty at the University of California, Irvine in 1990. Afterward he held positions at the University of California, Irvine; at the West campus of Arizona State University, with a joint appointment in African American Studies at the main campus of Arizona State University in Tempe; and as University Core Director at Fairleigh Dickinson University, before finally receiving his joint appointment to North Carolina A & T State University and UNC Greensboro. Research Working with Laurence D. Mueller, Graves found that population density is an important factor in determining both the immediate chances of survival and the course of natural selection for small organisms such as fruit flies. In "Chance, Development, and Aging", Human Biology December 2001, Graves wrote that the explanation of individual patterns of aging must take into account subtle mechanisms such as extensive chance variations in cell number and connections, in cell fates during differentiation, and in physiological patterns that arise during development. Graves has studied the tiny insects for more than a decade in pursuit of greater understanding of senescence, the process of aging. In addition to the study of aging, Graves is interested in the history and philosophy of science as it relates to the biology of race and racism in western society. He has received a fair amount of attention from the press for his writings on this topic, especially his strong statements about the socially constructed nature of race. According to his profile on the University of North Carolina Minority Health Project website, he believes: Personal life In addition to his research interests, Graves has also been an active participant in the struggle to protect and improve the teaching of science in the public schools. He advocates discussing human biological variation and race in high school and college science curricula. Bibliography (February 2001) (June 28, 2005) References In January, 2007, Joseph L. Graves, Jr. answered visitors questions about evolutionary biology PBS interview with Joseph Graves jr. The Myth of Race: America's Original Science Fiction NPR: Can Race Be Reduced to a Matter of Genes? 1955 births African-American scientists American scientists Arizona State University faculty Living people Race and intelligence controversy Social constructionism University of California, Irvine faculty Wayne State University alumni University of Michigan alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people