Before she rose

She had no formal science degree when she began her research — and the academic establishment used this against her for years.

The National Geographic Society refused her funding on the grounds that she had no university qualifications. Cambridge University initially rejected her PhD because she had not done a first degree. Scientific journals questioned her methodology when she named the chimpanzees instead of numbering them. She persisted through all of it.

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Jane Goodall

1934–present · London, England

She had no science degree when she went to Tanzania. She came back with findings that changed how we understand all animal life.

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

— Jane Goodall

In 1960, a 26-year-old British woman with no university degree arrived on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in what is now Tanzania. She had been hired by paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey — who believed, controversially, that someone without scientific training might see things a formal scientist would miss. Jane Goodall set up camp in the Gombe Stream Reserve. The chimpanzees ran from her for months. She waited.

Her story

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Jane Goodall's observation that chimpanzees make and use tools — observed in 1960 — changed the scientific definition of what it means to be human.

Until Goodall's discovery, tool use was considered uniquely human. When Louis Leakey was told, he cabled her: "Now we must redefine 'tool', redefine 'man', or accept chimpanzees as humans."

The chimpanzees ran from her for 18 months. She sat at the edge of the forest every day.

On November 4, 1960 — after months of rejection — a chimpanzee she had named David Greybeard allowed her to approach. The research that would change science began.

She was awarded a PhD by Cambridge in 1965 — despite having no undergraduate degree. She is one of only a handful of people to receive a Cambridge PhD in this way.

The same establishment that had questioned her was forced, by the evidence, to recognize her. The chimpanzees had been more welcoming.

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Jane Goodall has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2002. She travels 300 days a year at the age of 90, speaking about conservation and the natural world.

She says she remains hopeful because of young people, the resilience of nature, the human capacity for problem-solving, and the indomitable human spirit.

She waited 18 months for a chimpanzee to trust her. She called the moment it happened the beginning of everything.

Some of the most important things in a life require that kind of patient, sustained, present waiting.

What she taught us

◈The credential is not the same as the capability — and the world will eventually admit it.
◈Some doors only open if you sit very still and wait a very long time.
◈The right question changes everything. Even what it means to be human.

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

— Jane Goodall, Jane Goodall

Her story. Your life.

A question worth sitting with

Jane Goodall waited 18 months before the chimpanzees trusted her enough to let her approach. What important relationship, goal, or understanding in your own life is asking for that kind of patient, sustained presence?

Take sixty seconds. Just sit with it.

A letter from her — to you

Dear you, I want to tell you about waiting. I sat at the edge of a forest in Tanzania for eighteen months. Every day, I went back. The chimpanzees ran. I waited. I had no guarantee they would ever stop running. I had no guarantee my research would work, or that the academic establishment would accept it, or that I would ever receive a degree or funding or recognition. I had only the conviction that this was where I was supposed to be, doing this was what I was supposed to be doing. I know this kind of waiting. The kind where you are doing the right thing, in the right place, with no evidence yet that it is working. Where others around you are asking whether you are sure this is the right path, whether you have considered something more reliable, whether you have a plan B. Here is what I know: some of the most important things in a life require a particular quality of patient presence. Not passive waiting — active, attentive, committed presence. The kind of waiting that is itself a form of work. The thing you are waiting for — the relationship, the breakthrough, the trust, the moment when it finally comes together — it may be closer than it seems. Or it may require another year. Either way: keep showing up. Keep being present. The chimpanzees are worth it. With love, Jane

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