James F. Crow and the stochastic theory of population genetics

Research in population genetics theory has two main strands. The first is deterministic theory, where random changes in allelic frequencies are ignored and attention focuses on the evolutionary effects of selection and mutation. The second strand, stochastic theory, takes account of these random changes and thus is more complete than deterministic theory. This essay is one in the series of Perspectives and Reviews honoring James F. Crow on the occasion of his 95th birthday. It concerns his contributions to, and involvement with, the stochastic theory of evolutionary population genetics.     

James F. Crow and the art of teaching and mentoring

To honor James F. Crow on the occasion of his 95th birthday, GENETICS has commissioned a series of Perspectives and Reviews. For GENETICS to publish the honorifics is fitting, as from their birth Crow and GENETICS have been paired. Crow was scheduled to be born in January 1916, the same month that the first issue of GENETICS was scheduled to appear, and in the many years that Crow has made major contributions to the conceptual foundations of modern genetics, GENETICS has chronicled his and other major advances in the field. The commissioned Perspectives and Reviews summarize and celebrate Professor Crow's contributions as a research scientist, administrator, colleague, community supporter, international leader, teacher, and mentor. In science, Professor Crow was the international leader of his generation in the application of genetics to populations of organisms and in uncovering the role of genetics in health and disease. In education, he was a superb undergraduate teacher whose inspiration changed the career paths of many students. His teaching skills are legendary, his lectures urbane and witty, rigorous and clear. He was also an extraordinary mentor to numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom went on to establish successful careers of their own. In public service, Professor Crow served in key administrative positions at the University of Wisconsin, participated as a member of numerous national and international committees, and served as president of both the Genetics Society of America and the American Society for Human Genetics. This Perspective examines Professor Crow as teacher and mentor through the eyes and experiences of one student who was enrolled in his genetics course as an undergraduate and who later studied with him as a graduate student.     

Jorge Mardones: oration at his funeral service

Oratios at the funeral service of Prof Jorge Mardones, MD. A very successful and influential pharmacologist, he was Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile; President of the Academy of Sciences, Institute of Chile; National Prize of Sciences, 1977; and Minister of Public Health. He also served as Chief Editor of "Archivos de Biología y Medicina Experimentales" (former name of this journal) between 1964 and 1978.