Nicholas Wright Gillham (May 14, 1932 – March 19, 2018) was an American geneticist who served as the James B. Duke Professor of

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. In addition to his scientific research, he is known for his 2001

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and b ...

, ''A Life of Sir Francis Galton: From African Exploration to the Birth of Eugenics''.

Early life and education

Gillham was born on May 14, 1932, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His father, Robert Marty Gillham, was an advertising executive, and his mother,

Elizabeth Enright Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham (September 17, 1907 – June 8, 1968) was an American people, American writer of children's books, an illustrator, writer of short stories for adults, literary critic and teacher of creative writing. Perhaps best ...

, was a writer of children's books and the niece of the architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1962, and completed his

postdoc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

from 1961 to 1963.

Academic career

After serving as an instructor and later as assistant professor at Harvard, Gillham joined the faculty of Duke University in 1968, where he was named James B. Duke Professor in 1982. He served as chair of the Department of Zoology at Duke from 1986 to 1989. He would remain on the faculty at Duke until his retirement in 2002. He was a member of the President's Biomedical Research Panel in 1975 and a member of the

National Institute of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Servic ...

's study section in genetics from 1976 to 1980, as well as a

senior editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

of the journal ''Plasmid'' from 1977 to 1986.

Books

Gillham wrote three technical books during his career: one about

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

and two about the

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 ...

organelles In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell, that has a specific function. The name ''organelle'' comes from the idea that these structures are parts of cells, as organs are to the body, hence ''organelle,'' th ...

. In 2001, he published the book ''A Life of Sir Francis Galton: From African Exploration to the Birth of Eugenics'', a biography of

. A review of this book in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' stated that " is may well prove to be the definitive biography" of Galton. Similarly, Theodore M. Porter reviewed the book favorably, describing it in the journal ''

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

'' as "a sound, readable account that will become, for most, the Galton biography of choice."

Honors and awards

Gillham received a Research Career Development Award from 1972 to 1977 and a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1984. He was also a member of the

Genetics Society of America The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is a scholarly membership society of more than 5,500 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931. The Society was formed from the reorganization of the Joint Genetics Sections of the American Soc ...

Personal life and death

Gillham married Carol Lenore Collins on June 2, 1956. They remained married until Gillham's death. Gillham died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at his home in Fearrington Village, North Carolina, on March 19, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillham, Nicholas Wright 1932 births 2018 deaths American geneticists Duke University faculty Harvard University alumni Scientists from New York City Harvard University faculty Frank Lloyd Wright