William Newsome III, PhD

William Thomas Newsome, III, PhD, is the Harman Family Professor of Neurobiology and Founding Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Stetson University and a PhD in biology from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Newsome is a leading investigator in systems and cognitive neuroscience. He has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and simple forms of decision-making. His professional honors include the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association, the Dan David Prize of Tel Aviv University, the Karl Spencer Lashley Award of the American Philosophical Society, and the Champalimaud Vision Award. 

His distinguished lectureships include the 13th Annual Marr Lecture at the University of Cambridge the 9th Annual Brenda Milner Lecture at McGill University, and the Distinguished Visiting Scholar lectures at the Kavli Institute of Brain and Mind, University of California San Diego. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 2000, the American Philosophical Society in 2011, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. Dr. Newsome co-chaired the NIH BRAIN working group, charged with forming a national plan for the coming decade of neuroscience research in the United States. Bill is a husband, a father, and an enthusiastic amateur photographer.  He is an active member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California, and regularly speaks to university, seminary, and public audiences on topics in science and faith.