Roger Fouts, PhD

Roger Fouts, PhD

Roger Fouts is Director of University Research at Central Washington University (CWU) and co-director with Deborah Fouts of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute.  In addition, Roger is a Professor of Psychology and CWU Distinguished Research Professor.

Roger has been a part of Project Washoe since 1967.  Project Washoe is the first and longest running project of its kind.  Washoe was the very first nonhuman animal to acquire a human language, American Sign Language for the Deaf (ASL).  The project now focuses on the signing of its four sign language using chimpanzees who live together as a social group: Washoe, Tatu, Dar, and Loulis.  Just as humans do, the chimpanzees use the signs of ASL in their interactions with humans and with each other, to comment on their environment, to make requests, answer questions, and describe activities and objects.  Loulis acquired his signs from his adoptive mother Washoe and the other chimpanzees, becoming the first chimpanzee to acquire a human language from chimpanzees thus demonstrating the ability of the chimpanzee to culturally transmit a language across generations.

Roger has more than 100 articles published in scientific journals and books.  In 198, Roger and Deborah founded Friends of Washoe a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of chimpanzees.  They have resided in Ellensburg since 1980 and with hundreds of students they have conducted their research at Central Washington University.  In 1992 they founded at CWU the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI).  The CHCI is dedicated to the education of students and public alike.  On weekends the CHCI is available to the public for educational seminars (Chimposiums) on the chimpanzees and the ground breaking research project they represent.  Recent research at the CHCI has focused on the private signing of the chimpanzees, imaginary play and signing, chimpanzee to chimpanzee conversations, conversation repair, representational drawing, and the symbolic representation of spatial relations with ASL signs as well as a comparison of gestural dialects in both this population of captive chimpanzees and three populations of free living chimpanzees.

Roger is very active in efforts to improve the living conditions and treatment of chimpanzees in captivity by developing and promoting humane care techniques and programs.  In addition, he is active in efforts to protect the free-living chimpanzees in Africa.  Roger played a role in the U. S. Fish and Wildlife officially raising of chimpanzees in Africa from "Threatened" to "Endangered" species status. He is very active in the Sanctuary movement to provide for chimpanzees used in and retired from the Air Force Space program and other biomedical research.  He and Deborah are founding members of the Great Ape Project which promotes basic rights for great apes. 

In 1997, Roger Fouts wrote Next of Kin, a memoir of his life with Washoe and which was selected by The Los Angeles Times as one of top 100 books of 1997.  In October of 2000, Roger and Deborah were the recipients of the Distinguished Service Award for Enhancing Education through Biological Research from the National Association of Biology Teachers and in December 2000, they received the PAL award from the Chimfunshi Sanctuary, Zambia, Africa, for their efforts on behalf of Chimpanzee Conservation.

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