James F. Crow, one of the world?s most eminent evolutionary biologists and a popular UW-Madison professor for more than 40 years, died Wednesday in Madison. He was 95. The university named its Institute for the Study of Evolution after Crow in 2009.
“Jim was a major figure in the history ? up to the present ? of evolutionary genetics,” said John Hawks, an associate professor of anthropology. In addition to his research on the behavior of genes and the effects of radiation on the human mutation rate, Crow served on a number of groundbreaking national committees. He chaired a national committee that compiled a report on the use of DNA evidence in the courtroom.