Rainer Walter "Ray" Guillery FRS (28 August 1929 – 7 April 2017) was a British

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and

neuroanatomist Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

. He is best known for his discovery that in

Siamese cat The Siamese cat (; แมวสยาม, Maeo Sayam; แมววิเชียรมาศ, Maeo Wichien Maat) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmat landrace. The Siamese cat is one ...

s with certain

genotype The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...

s of the

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

gene, the wiring of the

optic chiasm In neuroanatomy, the optic chiasm, or optic chiasma (; , ), is the part of the brain where the optic nerves cross. It is located at the bottom of the brain immediately inferior to the hypothalamus. The optic chiasm is found in all vertebrates, ...

is disrupted, with less of the nerve-crossing than is normal.

Early life and education

Guillery was born in Greifswald, Germany on 28 August 1929. He began his education as a medical student at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL) in 1948. He obtained his BSc in 1951 and his

PhD 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 ...

in 1954.

Career

Guillery taught at UCL for 11 years. In 1964 he went to

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, where he helped to start the new graduate programme in neuroscience. In 1977, he moved to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

to lead another new graduate neuroscience programme. In 1984, Guillery returned to the UK as head of the department of Human Anatomy and Dr. Lee's Professor of Anatomy at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, until 1996. He was then subsequently a

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". ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

at the

University of Wisconsin Medical School The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH) is a professional school for the study of medicine and public health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is one of only two medical schools in Wisconsin, along wit ...

and, , an honorary emeritus research fellow at the Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit at Oxford. In 1989, Guillery was the founding

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

European Journal of Neuroscience The ''European Journal of Neuroscience'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of neuroscience. It was established in 1989 with Ray Guillery (then at the University of Oxford) as the founding editor-in-chief. The cur ...

''. He died on 7 April 2017 at the age of 87.

Honours

He was made a

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

in 1983, and a Fellow of University College London in 1987. In 1996, he delivered the J. W. Jenkinson Memorial Lectureship.

References

External links

''New Scientist''
14 September 1978 {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillery, Ray 1929 births 2017 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British neuroscientists British anatomists People from Greifswald British physiologists University of Chicago faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Dr Lee's Professors of Anatomy British academic journal editors Members of Academia Europaea