Person

Fraser, Alex Stewart (1923 - 2002)

Born
24 December 1923
Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Died
14 July 2002
Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States of America
Occupation
Geneticist

Summary

Alex Fraser, working with the SILLIAC computer at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) when he was at the Animal Genetics Laboratory at the University of Sydney, made his seminal contributions to evolutionary computation. He was one of the first to conceive and execute computer simulations of genetic systems, and his efforts in the 1950s and 1960s had a profound impact on computational models of evolutionary systems. The simulation algorithms he used were important not only in the simulation of genetical problems, but provided a menu of techniques that enriched the entire simulation effort in any problem that involved probability sampling among a population of alternatives, the heart of Monte Carlo methods. These algorithms were shared through papers published in the Australian Journal of Biological Science from 1957 to the early 1960s, and in international journals.

He moved from CSIRO in Sydney to Head of Genetics and Animal Husbandry, and the University of California at Davis, and then to the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, where remained.

He was once a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA).

Details

Chronology

1945
Education - Master of Science (MSc), Canterbury University College, New Zealand
1945 - 1946
Career position - Honorary member, Wheat Research Institute, Lincoln, New Zealand
1947 - 1948
Career position - Research Assistant to Dr F.W. Dry, Massey Agricultural College, Palmerston North, New Zealand
1949 - 1951
Award - Senior Research Grant from Agricultural Research Council, UK
1951
Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Edinburgh, Scotland
c. 1952
Life event - Moved to Australia
c. 1952 - c. 1963
Career position - Research Officer, later Principal Officer, Animal Genetics Laboratory, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), at the University of Sydney
c. 1963
Life event - Moved to California, USA
c. 1963 - c. 1968
Career position - Head of Genetics and Animal Husbandry, University of California, Davis, USA
1968 - 1972
Career position - Head, Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
1968 - 1989
Career position - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
1999
Award - IEEE Neural Networks Council Pioneer Award in Evolutionary Computation

Published resources

Journal Articles

Resources

Rosanne Walker; Ken McInnes

EOAS ID: biogs/P002354b.htm

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