Barry Commoner is an American biologist, college professor, and eco-socialist. He ran for president of the United States in the 1980 U.S. presidential election on the Citizens Party ticket.

Commoner was born in Brooklyn. He received his bachelor's degree in zoology from Columbia University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University ." After serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II, Commoner moved to St. Louis and became a professor of plant physiology at Washington University, where he taught for 34 years. In 1966 he founded the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems to study the science of the total environment.