Dawn Prince-Hughes

American anthropologist, primatologist, author
Dawn Prince Hughes (born 1964) is an American anthropologist, primatologist, and ethologist. She is the author of several books, including Gorillas Among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days and her memoir Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism, and she is the editor of the essay collection Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism.

Prince Hughes was raised in Carbondale, Illinois by her mother, who was a homemaker, and her father, who was a heating and air conditioning serviceman. In her memoir Songs of the Gorilla Nation, Prince Hughes describes her childhood experience with symptoms of undiagnosed autism, dropping out of high school, and then becoming "technically homeless." She met the gorillas at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle for the first time at age 20, and her detailed study of the behavior of the gorillas was noticed by the zoo research director. She became an adjunct professor at Western Washington University in 2000, the same year she received her Asperger's diagnosis. In a review for Booklist, Marlene Chamberlain writes, "In reading this book, it is hard not to empathize with a species often referred to as our closest relative. However scientific her observations, Prince Hughes clearly developed a nonverbal rapport with the gorilla family, and the book has some sadness but much joy."

In Aquamarine Blue 5, Prince Hughes collected personal essays by college students with autism about their experiences, wrote a preface introducing each author, her own essay, and a conclusion with recommendations for universities as well as a bibliography with additional information resources. She did not edit the essays written by the students. A review for Publishers Weekly states, "By quietly, calmly watching the gorillas interact, Prince Hughes learns about emotions like love, anger, concern and humor—feelings she could never understand in the purely human world." Kirkus Reviews writes, "She developed deep empathy with these primates, referred to here as "gorilla people" because in her view they fulfill all the criteria for personhood, serving as models of gentle care, protectiveness, acceptance, and love." In a review for Library Journal, Corey Seeman writes, "Her relationship with gorillas is valuable in showing her journey toward reengagement with others, but lengthy descriptions of gorilla behavior bog down her story. Despite this shortcoming, the book is recommended for academic and public libraries with disability and ASD collections."

Prince Hughes and her partner Tara Hughes, an English professor, have a son.