James W. Vaupel has been knighted for his contribution to research at the University of Southern Denmark. The order is given to outstanding citizens of the Danish state for contributions to science, art, business, civil and military service by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (The Royal Order of Dannebrog).
James Vaupel is Professor of Social Sciences, Health Sciences and Natural Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark. He is the Founding Director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock (since 2018 Director Emeritus), Founding director of the Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging (2013 – 2017) and Founding director of the Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics at SDU.
James Vaupel studied mathematical statistics and received his PhD in public policy at Harvard University. After serving as a professor at Duke University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Southern Denmark, he became Founding Director of the Max Planck Institute of Demographic Research in 1996. James W. Vaupel is a leading scientist in the field of aging research and has been instrumental in developing and advancing the idea of the plasticity of longevity. He pioneered research on the heterogeneity of mortality risks, and on the deceleration of death rates at the highest ages.
More about James Vaupel here.