- James F. Crow
James F. Crow (born 1916) is Professor Emeritus of
Genetics at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison .Some of his most significant peer-reviewed contributions were coauthored with
Motoo Kimura . His major contribution to the field, however, is arguably his teaching. He has written an influential introductory textbook on genetics and a more advanced one with Kimura, and the list of his graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs includesAlexey Kondrashov ,James Bull ,Joe Felsenstein ,Russell Lande ,Dan Hartl , Takeo Maruyama, Terumi Mukai, Wen-Hsiung Li, Chung-I Wu and many others.Biography
James F. Crow is a pioneer and giant in the field of genetics. His University of Wisconsin genetics faculty profile reviews his historic contributions through research, teaching, public service, ethical analysis, and leadership. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, The American Philosophical Society, the World Academy of Art and Science, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and The American Philosophical Society. He was a long-time member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, playing viola. He is a past president of both the Genetics Society of America and the American Society of Human Genetics. He helped define the meaning of genetic counseling.
Early life and education
Crow was born in 1916 in
Collegeville, Pennsylvania , where his father was a teacher atUrsinus College . The family moved toWichita, Kansas , two and a half years later, in 1918, where Crow was part of the 1918 flu pandemic. He went to school in Wichita, then toFriends University , at the time aQuaker school, also in Wichita, graduating in 1937.At school, he enjoyed physics and chemistry, but pursued chemistry more strongly at university. He picked up biology as well, and double majored in chemistry and biology. A genetics course in his junior year was his first exposure to that field, even though the syllabus omitted the
modern synthesis .Delaying the decision of whether to become a biologist or chemist, Crow applied for graduate fellowships in both biology and biochemistry. He took up the first positive reply, a position with H. J. Muller at the
University of Texas at Austin , in spite of knowing that Muller was in Russia at the time. It turned out that Muller had no intention of returning to his position in Texas, and so J. T. Patterson became Crow's supervisor there. Under the influence of Muller, Patterson was starting to switch to "Drosophila " genetics, having previously worked on the embryology of thearmadillo , and so it was that Crow came to study the genetic isolating mechanisms in the "Drosophila mulleri" group. This included a combination of doing mating crosses between species and looking forchromosome rearrangement s usingpolytene chromosome s. (Polytene chromosomes are large aggregations of actual chromosomes which, once appropriately stained, facilitate the discovery of chromosome rearrangements through an ordinarylight microscope . Polytene chromosomes are mostly found in thesalivary gland s of some species.) In his studies of pre-mating isolation, Crow was one of the first to study genetic reinforcement, and also observed that species occurring together were sexually isolated, while those living apart were not.A great influence on Crow at the time was W.S. Stone, who encouraged him to learn more mathematics, while he himself knew none. Crow later admitted to struggling with some of the advanced maths and physics courses he took as a result, but also said they had been rewarding.
Dartmouth College and the war
Crow graduated with his PhD in 1941 and moved to
Dartmouth College just prior to the war, where he remained until 1948. The original plan had been to get a postdoctoral fellowship to work withSewall Wright at theUniversity of Chicago , but this proved difficult just at the start of the war.His appointment in Dartmouth was to teach genetics and general
zoology , but as faculty were drafted off into military endeavors, Crow took on an increasing number of courses. Crow particularly delighted in being able to teachembryology andcomparative anatomy . When it seemed likely that he himself would be drafted, Crow took a course in navigation, at which, owing to his mathematical training, he proved so adept that he was asked to teach it. Asparasitology became relevant to the war (as it did on the opposing front, whereWilli Hennig was active in this area), he was asked to also teach parasitology andhaematology . Not long after, he was also teachingstatistics . It may be that, having to teach many hours each day, Crow discovered his love for teaching at this point. He later recounted that there were several students all of whose courses were taught by him.He, like many of his colleagues of the era, had college-time involvement with pacifist groups that had communist leanings. During WWII, he tried to enlist, but was deferred until the end due to his teaching commitments.Professor Crow is known among colleagues as Jim Crow.
References
Interview with Professor James Crow. 2006. "BioEssays" 28 (6), 660-678. DOI 10.1002/bies.20426http://www.genetics.wisc.edu/faculty/profile.php?id=102
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.