Sewall Wright
Sewall Green Wright FRS(For) Honorary FRSE (December 21, 1889 – March 3, 1988) was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. He was a founder of population genetics alongside Ronald Fisher and J. B. S. Haldane, which was a major step in the development of the modern synthesis combining genetics with evolution. He discovered the inbreeding coefficient and methods of computing it in pedigree animals. He extended this work to populations, computing the amount of inbreeding between members of populations as a result of random genetic drift, and along with Fisher he pioneered methods for computing the distribution of gene frequencies among populations as a result of the interaction of natural selection, mutation, migration and genetic drift. Wright also made major contributions to mammalian and biochemical genetics.
Sewall Wright | |
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Wright in 1954 | |
| Born | December 21, 1889 Melrose, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 3, 1988 (aged 98) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Lombard College University of Illinois Harvard University (Sc.D., 1915) |
| Known for | Coefficient of determination Population genetics Causal graph F-statistics Fixation index Fitness landscape Genetic rescue Genetic drift Inbreeding coefficient Path analysis Shifting balance theory Threshold model |
| Awards | Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal (1945) Weldon Memorial Prize (1947) National Medal of Science (1966) Darwin Medal (1980) Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal (1982) Balzan Prize (1984) Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1963) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genetics |
| Institutions | University of Chicago (1926–1954) University of Wisconsin (1955–1960) |
| Doctoral advisor | William Ernest Castle |
| Other academic advisors | Wilhelmine Key |