Jump to content

Francis J. Ryan: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Copyediting/Refining Category:American zoologists
 
(2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|American zoologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name =
| name =
Line 34: Line 35:


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
<references />

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Francis J.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Francis J.}}
Line 45: Line 48:
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Scientists from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Scientists from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Tokyo]]

Latest revision as of 09:53, 17 October 2024

Francis J. Ryan
Born
Francis Joseph Ryan

(1916-02-01)February 1, 1916
DiedJuly 14, 1963(1963-07-14) (aged 47)
Alma materColumbia University
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship (1950)
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
InstitutionsColumbia University
Notable studentsJoshua Lederberg

Francis Joseph Ryan[1] (February 1, 1916 – July 14, 1963) was an American zoologist. He was professor and chair of Columbia University's department of zoology.[2]

Biography

[edit]

Ryan was born on February 1, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York.[3] He received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1937 and his Ph.D. in 1941.[2] He then joined the faculty and eventually became assistant professor, associate professor, full professor and department head.[2] He was a mentor of future Nobel Prize winner Joshua Lederberg, who credited Ryan for "taking a callow underclassman from Washington Heights, brash and argumentative as precocious students often are, and turned [him] into a scientist."[4][5]

Ryan's research focused on a variety of fields, including experimental embryology, microbial genetics, and he did research on escherichia coli to understand how information about an organism is imprinted in its genetic structure.[2] His work during the 1950s also disproved the theories of Trofim Lysenko that evolutionary changes are initiated by the environment.[2]

Ryan received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1950.[6] He was also a Fulbright Professor at the University of Tokyo in 1955–1956, during which he also served as a consultant to Japanese microbiologists in industry and universities.[2] He held visiting professorships and fellowships at the Pasteur Institute and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[2]

Ryan was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960.[7] He was also a trustee of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.[2]

Ryan died of a heart attack on July 14, 1963, at 47 years old.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Francis Joseph Ryan 1916-1963". The American Naturalist. 98 (902): 258–259. 1964-09-01. doi:10.1086/an.98.902.2459453. ISSN 0003-0147.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "DR. FRANCIS RYAN, ZOOLOGIST, DEAD; Columbia Scientist Probed Secrets of Smallest Life Consultant in Japan". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  3. ^ "Francis J. Ryan's application for fellowship at the John Simon Memorial Guggenheim Foundation - Digital Collections - National Library of Medicine". collections.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  4. ^ "Dr. Francis J. Ryan at work at Columbia University". Joshua Lederberg - Profiles in Science. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  5. ^ "Features: Nobel prose". www.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  6. ^ "Francis J. Ryan". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  7. ^ "Francis Joseph Ryan". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-06-23.