} Lindon J. Eaves (1944–2022) was a behavior geneticist and priest who published on topics as diverse as the

heritability Heritability is a statistic used in the fields of Animal husbandry, breeding and genetics that estimates the degree of ''variation'' in a phenotypic trait in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals in that population. T ...

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and

psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of mental illness. It includes the signs and symptoms of all mental disorders. The field includes Abnormal psychology, abnormal cognition, maladaptive behavior, and experiences which differ according to social norms ...

. His research encompassed the development of

mathematical model A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...

s reflecting competing theories of the causes and familial transmission of human human differences, the design of studies for the resolution, analytical methods for parameter estimation and hypothesis-testing and application to substantive questions about specific (human) traits. He was the first to consider standardized variance components for heritability estimates and was the first (at least in the human context) to consider the effects of living with a relative (with a different genotype or, in the case of monozygotic twins, the same genotype) on the behavior of a person. Furthermore, he was the first to think about genotype x age interaction and set up the algebra to study the effects of genes working in males as well as females, making it possible to use twins pairs of opposite-sex (dizygotic opposite sex). Together with Nick Martin, he wrote many classic papers, one of which is "The genetic analysis of covariance structure". They also wrote the book, ''Genes, culture and personality: An empirical approach''. In 2012, a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was held in Edinburgh dedicated to Eaves' work; the proceedings were subsequently published in ''Behavior Genetics''. He was ordained a deacon in 1968, and a priest in 1969 by the Bishop of Birmingham, Church of England. He served in the Church of England until 1981 and several churches in Richmond, Virginia including Church of the Holy Comforter, 1986–1997; St. James's, 1997; and St. Thomas, 2002–2013 as a priest in residence.

Early life

Eaves studied

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Ripon College Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon (RCC) is a Church of England seminary, theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local orda ...

. He was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oxford until 1981, when he moved to

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

where Walter Nance and Linda Corey had established the Virginia Twin Registry. In 1996, he and Kenneth Kendler founded the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, where he was

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

and actively engaged in research and training.

Honors

* 1966: First class honors in Genetics, University of Birmingham * 1981: James Shields Award for Twin Research * 1989: Mead-Swing Lecturer, Oberlin College * 1991: President, Behavior Genetics Association * 1993: Paul Hoch Award, American Psychopathological Association * 1993-1995: President, International Society for Study of Twins * 1996: McNair Lecturer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill * 1999: Dobzhansky Award, Behavioral Genetics Association * 1999: Nobel Lecturer, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN 'Genetics in the New Millennium' * 2000: Doctor Honoris Causa, VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands * 2000: Root Lecturer, Washing & Lee University, Lexington, VA * 2001: VCU School of Medicine Outstanding Research Achievement Award * 2001: VCU Distinguished Scholarship Award * 2001: VCU School of Medicine Outstanding Departmental Teacher Award

References

External links

Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaves, Lindon 1944 births Living people Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon Behavior geneticists Academics of the University of Oxford Virginia Commonwealth University faculty People educated at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys