John Spangler Nicholas (March 10, 1895 – September 11, 1963) was an American embryologist and a professor of zoology at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He contributed to experimental techniques for the study of embryology through transplants, the early stage development of teleost and mammalian zygotes.

Early life and education

Nicholas was born in

Kintnersville, Pennsylvania Kintnersville is an unincorporated community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2019, its population was 2,881. Its latitude is 40.557 degrees north and its longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifi ...

, the only child of Reverend Samuel Trauger and Elizabeth Ellen. Although the parents hoped he would join the Lutheran order, he chose to study medicine, influenced by an uncle, Harry Spangler. He earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women ...

. He received a PhD from Yale University in 1921.

Career

In 1915, he taught anatomy at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

at the invitation of Davenport Hooker. Nicholas enlisted with the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and returned following discharge in 1919. He joined Yale in 1926 and became

Sterling Professor Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered the best in his or her field. It is akin to the rank of university professor at other universities. The appointment, made by the ...

of Zoology in 1939. He served at Yale until his retirement in 1963. Nicholas followed experiments in the asymmetry of development which had been begun by his Yale supervisor

Ross G. Harrison Ross Granville Harrison (January 13, 1870 – September 30, 1959) was an American biologist and anatomist credited for his pioneering work on animal tissue culture. His work also contributed to the understanding of embryonic development. Harrison ...

. Harrison had shown that grafts develop as left or right limbs based on the orientation in which a limb bud was grafted. Spangler showed that this orientation was defined by a narrow ring of cells. He later developed experimental methods to grow rat embryos in chicken chorioallantois.

Personal life

Nicholas married Helen Benton Brown in 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, John Spangler 1895 births 1963 deaths Yale University alumni Yale University faculty Yale Sterling Professors American embryologists