Michael James Denham White FRS (London, 20 August 1910 – Canberra, 16 December 1983) was a

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and

cytologist Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

. White grew up in Tuscany, Italy, where he was home-schooled, before beginning undergraduate studies at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

from 1927. He later held the posts of Reader in Zoology at UCL, Professor of Zoology at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, Professor of Zoology (1958–1964) and Professor of Genetics (1964–1975) at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, Australia, before ending his academic career at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1961, and won the

Linnaean Medal The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and ...

of the Linnaean Society of London in 1983. He was a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, and the United States National Academy of Sciences. White made important contributions to the development of

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

and

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

. His work was influential in the study of speciation in biology.

Books

* * * *White M.J.D. and Webb G.C. ''Blattodea, Mantodea, Isoptera, Grylloblattodea, Phasmatodea, Dermaptera, and Embioptera''. Borntraeger. (3-443-26005-5) *White M.J.D. (ed). ''Genetic mechanisms of speciation in insects''. Symposia at the XIVth International Congress of Entomology, Canberra, Australia, 22–30 August 1972. Australian Academy of Science, Australian Entomological Society. Reidel. (90-277-0477-5)

References

External links

MJD White;University of Melbourne Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Michael J D 1910 births 1983 deaths University of Melbourne faculty 20th-century Australian zoologists 20th-century British zoologists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society