Ernst Caspari
Born
Ernst Wolfgang Caspari

(1909-10-24)October 24, 1909
Berlin, German Empire
DiedAugust 11, 1988(1988-08-11) (aged 78)
Rochester, New York
CitizenshipAmerican
EducationUniversity of Göttingen
Known forBehavioral genetics
Developmental genetics
AwardsBehavior Genetics Association's Dobzhansky Award (1979)
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
InstitutionsLafayette College
Wesleyan University
University of Rochester
Doctoral advisorAlfred Kühn

Ernst Wolfgang Caspari (October 24, 1909 – August 11, 1988)[1] was a German-American geneticist known for his research on behavioral and developmental genetics.[2][3]

Early life and education

Caspari was born on October 24, 1909, in Berlin, Germany. He was one of four children of Wilhelm Caspari, a physiologist, and his wife Gertrud. Despite being from a Jewish family, Wilhelm and Gertrud were Protestants, as were their children: Ernst, Fred, Irene, and Max.[4] Ernst attended the Kaiser-Friedrich-Schule in Berlin, followed by the Goethe-Gymnasium zu Frankfurt. He decided he wanted to become a geneticist after reading a copy of Richard Goldschmidt's book Ascaris, eine Einführung in die Wissenschaft vom Leben für Jedermann as a Christmas present when he was 14.[2] He emigrated to the United States in 1938, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944.[5] He was trained by Alfred Kühn at the University of Göttingen, receiving his Ph.D. there in 1933.[2] He was forced by the Nazis to leave his position in Kühn's lab later that year.[6]

Academic career

Caspari became a fellow of biology at Lafayette College in 1938, where he became an assistant professor of biology in 1941. At Lafayette, he met L. C. Dunn, with whom he subsequently collaborated on several topics in mouse genetics research.[6] He served as a professor of biology at Wesleyan University from 1949 to 1960, when he became professor and chairman of the Department of Biology at the University of Rochester. He remained on the faculty of the University of Rochester until his retirement in 1975. He was president of the Genetics Society of America in 1966 and the editor-in-chief of its journal, Genetics, from 1968 to 1972.[6][5]

Honors and awards

Caspari was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1942, and became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.[5] He was a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1956-57 and in 1965-66.[7] In 1979, he received the Dobzhansky Award from the Behavior Genetics Association.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Bultmann, Rudolf; Bornkamm, Günther (2014-12-02). Briefwechsel 1926-1976 (in German). Mohr Siebeck. p. 240. ISBN 9783161517082.
  2. 1 2 3 Grossbach, Ulrich (2009-04-01). "Seventy-Five Years of Developmental Genetics: Ernst Caspari's Early Experiments on Insect Eye Pigmentation, Performed in an Academic Environment of Political Suppression". Genetics. 181 (4): 1175–1182. doi:10.1534/genetics.109.102723. ISSN 0016-6731. PMC 2666489. PMID 19351811.
  3. ↑ "Corrigendum". Genetics. 184 (4): 1181. 2010-04-01. doi:10.1534/genetics.110.116731. ISSN 0016-6731. PMC 2865917.
  4. ↑ "Gertrud Caspari".
  5. 1 2 3 Advances in Genetics. Academic Press. 1987-12-11. pp. 519–521. ISBN 9780080568119.
  6. 1 2 3 Caspari, Ernst W. "Ernst W. Caspari Papers". American Philosophical Society. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  7. ↑ "Ernst Caspari". Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  8. ↑ "Caspari, Ernst W." SNAC. Retrieved 2018-11-10.


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