Graham Bell

FRS FRSC
Bell in 2016
Born (1949-03-03) 3 March 1949 (age 75)
Leicester, England
EducationWyggeston Grammar School for Boys
Alma materSt Peter's College, Oxford
Spouse
Susan Rosinger
​
(m. 1971)​
Children3
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary biology
Institutions
ThesisThe life of the smooth newt (Triturus vulgaris (Linn)) (1973)

Graham Arthur Charlton Bell FRS FRSC[1][2] (born 3 March 1949) is a British academic, writer, and evolutionary biologist with interests in the evolution of sexual reproduction and the maintenance of variation. He developed the "tangled bank" theory of evolutionary genetics after observing the asexual and sexual behaviour patterns of aphids as well as monogonont rotifers.[3]

Early life and education

Bell was born on 3 March 1949 in Leicester, England, to Arthur Charlton Bell and Edna May Bell (née Charlton). He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys and St Peter's College, Oxford, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 followed by a Doctor of Philosophy degree in animal ecology in 1973 for research on smooth newts.[4][5][6]

Career and research

Bell emigrated to Canada in 1975 where he worked as a biologist for the Alberta Civil Service until 1976. In 1976, he joined the faculty of McGill University as a temporary lecturer. He was appointed a Professor in 1989. In 1992, he was appointed Molson Chair of Genetics. He was Director of the Redpath Museum from 1995 to 2005.[7]

He is the author of The Masterpiece of Nature[8] which was described by Richard Dawkins as a 'beautifully written tour de force',[9] Sex and Death in Protozoa: The History of Obsession[10] and Selection: The Mechanism of Evolution first published in 1996 with a second edition in 2008.[11] His other books include The Evolution of Life[12] and The Basics of Selection.[13]

Bell was a co-founder and founding President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution.[14]

Honours and awards

Bell was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1994.[15] He was awarded the Léo-Pariseau Prize in 2002 and the Prix Marie-Victorin in 2004.[16] He was elected President of the Royal Society of Canada in 2013,[2] and became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014.[17] He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2016.[1] In 2022 he received the Flavelle Medal.[18]

Personal life

Bell married Susan Eva Rosinger in 1971. They have three sons.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Anon (2016). "Professor Graham Bell FRS". London: royalsociety.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

    All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b "PRESIDENT-ELECT DR. GRAHAM BELL". sc-src.ca.
  3. ^ Graham Bell publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  4. ^ a b "Bell, Prof. Graham Arthur Charlton". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2022. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U287264. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Arthur Charlton Bell, Graham (1973). The life of the smooth newt (Triturus vulgaris (Linn)) (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 43160959.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Bell, Graham (1977). "The Life of the Smooth Newt (Triturus vulgaris) after Metamorphosis". Ecological Monographs. 47 (3): 279–299. doi:10.2307/1942518. JSTOR 1942518.
  7. ^ "Directors of the Past and Present". Redpath Museum. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008.
  8. ^ Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (1982) The Masterpiece of Nature: the Evolution and Genetics of Sexuality. Croom Helm, London; University of California Press, Berkeley.[ISBN missing]
  9. ^ Richard Dawkins (2004) The Ancestor's Tale, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p. 358
  10. ^ Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (1989) Sex and Death in Protozoa: the History of an Obsession. Cambridge University Press[ISBN missing]
  11. ^ Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (2008) Selection: the Mechanism of Evolution, second edition. Oxford University Press.[ISBN missing]
  12. ^ Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (2015) The Evolution of Life. Oxford University Press.[ISBN missing]
  13. ^ Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (1996) The Basics of Selection. Chapman & Hall, New York and London.[ISBN missing]
  14. ^ <url=https://csee-scee.ca>. Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution
  15. ^ "Search Fellows | The Royal Society of Canada". rsc-src.ca. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Prix Marie-Victorin 2004". Les Prix du Québec (in French).
  17. ^ "Graham A.C. Bell elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences : McGill Reporter". publications.mcgill.ca. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  18. ^ https://www.academicgates.com/news/story/three-mcgill-professors-receive-royal-society-of-canada-medals/14464

External links

Professional and academic associations Preceded byYolande Grisé President of the Royal Society of Canada 2013–2015 Succeeded byMaryse Lassonde
Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 2016
Authority control databases
Categories