Reginald Ruggles Gates

Reginald Ruggles Gates (born in Nova Scotia on May 1, 1882; died August 12, 1962) was a Canadian born anthropologist, botanist, and geneticist. He did most of his work in the United Kingdom and the United States. He received his Bachelor of Science from McGill University with further education in Chicago and London. He did botanical work in Missouri in 1910 and later worked in London. He alternated between work in Britain and the United States. He won various awards and in 1931 joined the Royal Society.

Eugenics

Gates had become known for his studies of Oenothera and other plants [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=tqKD0AS4iaEC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=%22Reginald+Ruggles+Gates%22+eugenics&source=web&ots=7CwBuunM_3&sig=akSG-t-0XEsiukiCdpN-CyYqybM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA128,M1 Mendel's Legacy: The Origin of Classical Genetics By Elof Axel Carlson, pg 128] ] , but in 1923 he brought out "Heredity and Eugenics". He had a long interest in eugenics, but it was after this book onward that his reputation as a eugenicist become prominent. He considered racial differences to be great, but did not necessarily believe in a pure form of Caucasian. That stated he believed African Americans to be mentally inferior and attempted to prove this. He maintained his ideas on race and eugenics long after World War II, into the era when they were deemed anachronistic. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=-c8aSO-gnwMC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=%22Reginald+Ruggles+Gates%22+eugenics&source=web&ots=9BLu2lbq2x&sig=WgSyYO59hp0O8uRV6K6jxGwCXXo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA168,M1 The Retreat of Scientific Racism By Elazar Barkan 168-175] ] He was a founder of "Mankind Quarterly", which at that time was associated to the International Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics.

Personal life

In 1911 he married Marie Stopes, but this marriage was annulled in 1914. In 1955 he married a Laura Greer. Gates is memorialized by the Ruggles Gates Award at Mount Allison University.

References

External links

* [http://www.mta.ca/faculty/science/bio/prizes.html The Ruggles Gates Award]