John O'Keefe

American British neuroscientist, 2014 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Person human Q1701279
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Summary

John O'Keefe was born on November 18, 1939[1], in New York City[2]. He has worked as a neurologist[3], university teacher[4], psychologist[5], scientist[6], and neuroscientist[7]. He ranks in the top 0.72% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (832 views/month, #7,219 of 1,000,298).[8]

Key Facts

  • Country of citizenship: United Kingdom[9], United States[10]
  • Field of work: neurobiology[11]
  • Employer: University College London[12]
  • Educated at: City College of New York[13], Regis High School[14]
  • Doctoral advisor: Ronald Melzack[15]
  • Student: May-Britt Moser[16], Edvard Moser[17]
  • Award received: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine[18], Feldberg Foundation Prize[19], Grawemeyer Awards[20], Gruber Prize in Neuroscience[21], Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize[22], Kavli Prize in Neuroscience[23], Annual Review Prize Lecture[24], Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences[25], APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology[26], honorary doctor of the Aix-Marseille University[27]
  • Member of: Royal Society[28], National Academy of Sciences[29], Royal Irish Academy[30]
  • Sex or gender: male[31]
  • Doctoral student: Michael Recce[32]
  • Commons category: John O’Keefe (neuroscientist)[33]
  • Family name: O'Keefe[34]
  • Given name: John[35]
  • Official website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cdb/research/okeefe[36], http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=JOKEE52[37]
  • Participant in: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016[38]
  • Languages spoken, written or signed: English[39]
  • Affiliation: University College London[40]
  • Name in native language: John O’Keefe[41]
  • Interested in: neurobiology[42]
  • Affiliation string: University College London (UCL)[43]

Why It Matters

John O'Keefe has Wikipedia articles in 28 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[44] He is known by 16 alternative names across languages and contexts.[45]

He is credited with the discovery of place cell[46], a cell type[47].

FAQs

Where was John O'Keefe born?

John O'Keefe was born in New York City[2].

What did John O'Keefe do for work?

John O'Keefe worked as a neurologist[3], university teacher[4], psychologist[5], scientist[6], and neuroscientist[7].

Where did John O'Keefe go to school?

John O'Keefe was educated at City College of New York[13] and Regis High School[14].

What awards did John O'Keefe receive?

Honors received include Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine[18], Feldberg Foundation Prize[19], Grawemeyer Awards[20], and Gruber Prize in Neuroscience[21].

What did John O'Keefe discover?

John O'Keefe is credited as discoverer of place cell[46].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [31] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [14] ↑ . Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  7. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [7] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  13. [12] ↑ . ORCID Public Data File 2023. Retrieved . pub.orcid.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  14. [18] ↑ . nobelprize.org. nobelprize.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  15. [19] ↑ . feldbergfoundation.org. feldbergfoundation.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  16. [20] ↑ . grawemeyer.org. grawemeyer.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  17. [21] ↑ . gruber.yale.edu. gruber.yale.edu. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  18. [22] ↑ . cumc.columbia.edu. cumc.columbia.edu. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  19. [23] ↑ . kavliprize.org. kavliprize.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  20. [24] ↑ . physoc.org. Retrieved . physoc.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  21. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [26] ↑ . apa.org. apa.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  23. [27] ↑ . web.archive.org. web.archive.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  24. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [32] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [33] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [28] ↑ . royalsociety.org. Retrieved . royalsociety.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  28. [29] ↑ . nasonline.org. Retrieved . nasonline.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  29. [30] ↑ . ria.ie. Retrieved . ria.ie. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  30. [1] ↑ . Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved . nobelprize.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  31. [34] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  32. [35] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  33. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  34. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  35. [36] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  36. [37] ↑ . ORCID Public Data File 2020. Retrieved . pub.orcid.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  37. [38] ↑ . Davos 2016 Participant List. wikidata.org.
  38. [39] ↑ . IdRef. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  39. [40] ↑ . Davos 2016 Participant List. wikidata.org.
  40. [41] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  41. [42] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  42. [43] ↑ . Davos 2016 Participant List. wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [46] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [47] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [8] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [44] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [45] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). John O'Keefe. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-o-keefe
MLA “John O'Keefe.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 14 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-o-keefe.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_john-o-keefe_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{John O'Keefe}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/john-o-keefe}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-14}}
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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 9d ago · Printstream · 2026-10-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'arz', 'azb', 'be', 'bg', 'bn', 'ca', 'ckb', 'commons', 'cs', 'da', 'de',
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update-languages-short:0||de */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/57985|batch #57985]]: Import missing aliases from dewiki 2/3"
  2. 21w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Occupation → neurologist, university teacher, psychologist +2
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/31727|batch #31727]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (20)"
  3. 23w ago · MarisDreshmanisBot bot · 2026-05-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    National academy of sciences member id → 20038941
    Member of → Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences, Royal Irish Academy
    Embo member id → john-okeefe
    Nla trove people id → 1148705
    "/* wbeditentity-update-languages-short:0||ga, sq, eu, ca, smn, az, lmo, la, mk, lt, sv, fy, be-tarask, lv, tr, kw, nds, ur, sr, sr-ec, ro, diq, gl, sms, ar, et, fa, sk, vec, gd, ku, lb, bg, se, cy, el"
  4. 23w ago · PKalnai · 2026-05-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Educated at → —
    Place of birth → New York City
    Field of work → neurobiology
    Instance of → —
    + 31 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Online books page author id: O'Keefe, John, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/26408859|John O'Keefe (#26408859)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/catalog/694|Online"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.