Walter Bodmer — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Early advocate for the Human Genome Project.
Head of Laboratory at the University of Oxford.
First professor of genetics at the University of Oxford (1970).
Chaired the Royal Society committee that produced The Bodmer Report (1985), promoting public understanding of science.
Director General of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (1991-1996).
Led the Wellcome Trust's 'People of the British Isles project' (2005) to examine the genetic makeup of the UK.
Awarded PhD in 1959 from Cambridge for research on population genetics.

Biography

Sir Walter Fred Bodmer, a German-born British human geneticist, was born on January 10, 1936, in Frankfurt, Germany. He received his education at Manchester Grammar School and later studied the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge as a student of Clare College. In 1959, he earned his PhD from Cambridge for his research on population genetics in the house mouse and Primula vulgaris, supervised by Ronald Fisher.