Godfrey-Smith is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney and an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at CUNY Graduate Center. He works primarily in the Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Biology. Born in Australia in 1965, he received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California, San Diego in 1991 under the supervision of Philip Kitcher, and taught previously at Harvard University, Stanford University and Australian National University. Godfrey-Smith was the recipient of the Lakatos Award for his 2009 book, Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection which discusses the philosophical foundations of the theory of evolution.