Columbus Clark Cockerham (December 21, 1921 – November 4, 1996) was an American statistical geneticist known for his work in quantitative genetics.

Early life and education

Cockerham was born on December 21, 1921, in Mountain Park,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He grew up nearby on his family's farm. He received his B.S. degree in agriculture from the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering in 1943. After serving in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he returned to North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, where he received his M.S. in animal industry in 1949. In 1952, he received his Ph.D. from Iowa State College, where he studied with Jay Lush.

Career

In 1952, Cockerham became an assistant professor of

biostatistics Biostatistics (also known as biometry) is a branch of statistics that applies statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experimen ...

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The following year, he joined North Carolina State University (NCSU) as an associate professor of

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

. At NCSU, he later became the William Neal Reynolds Professor of Statistics and Genetics and the director of the NIH Project Program in Statistics. In 1963, he successfully persuaded the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to award him a research grant for a program in quantitative genetics, which he directed until his retirement in 1990. During this time, NCSU's quantitative genetics program was the largest project at NCSU that was funded by a federal grant.

Honors and awards

Cockerham was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1974. He received the North Carolina Award in

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

in 1976, the O. Max Gardner Award in 1980, and NCSU's Holladay Medal in 1994. He was also a recipient of the Gamma Sigma Delta Award of Merit and a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.

Personal life and death

Cockerham was married to Joyce Evelyn Allen, with whom he had three children: C. Clark Cockerham Jr., Jean Davis, and Bruce A. Cockerham. C. Clark Cockerham died on November 4, 1996.

References

External links

Profile
at SNAC {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockerham, Columbus Clark 1921 births 1996 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences North Carolina State University faculty North Carolina State University alumni Iowa State University alumni American geneticists Statistical geneticists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty People from Surry County, North Carolina American statisticians United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II