James Spuhler

James Spuhler
James Spuhler
Born	James Norman Spuhler; March 1, 1917; Tucumcari, New Mexico, US
Died	September 2, 1992 (aged 75); Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
Nationality	American
Education	University of New Mexico; Harvard University
Spouse(s)	Helen McKaig (m. 1946⁠–⁠1992)
Children	Derek Drake
Awards	NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing (1990)
	Scientific career
Fields	Biological anthropology; Genetic anthropology
Institutions	Ohio State University; University of Michigan; University of New Mexico
Thesis	Some Procedures in Human Genetics: A methodological study (1946)
Doctoral advisor	Earnest Hooton

James Norman Spuhler (March 1, 1917 – September 2, 1992)[1] was an American biological anthropologist who has been described as "the founder of anthropological genetics".[2] He taught at the University of New Mexico from 1967 to 1984, where his research focused on human genetics.[3] In 1990, he received the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing.[2] He died of cancer at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on September 2, 1992.[1]

Background

James Spuhler began his education at the University of New Mexico[1]. He started at the university on a football scholarship, but gave up his scholarship to focus on his education[1]. After he graduated, he was sent to China because of World War 2[2]. While in China he served as a Naval officer and learned to speak some Chinese and Japanese[2]. When he returned from the war he started at Harvard University to be trained in physical anthropology[1]. While studying at Harvard he wrote his dissertation on human genetics, which was one of the first of this topic submitted to any Department of Anthropology in the United States[1]. While he was at Harvard, genetic knowledge was not used in relation to human populations as Spuhler was the first to be trained in this field[2]. His dissertation prevented information for his two different subjects of expertise: human genetics and physical anthropology[1]. Following his Ph. D he worked as an instructor at the Ohio State University in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology[1]. Spuhler became a reviewer but never worked full time because he continued to do research in the field and laboratory[3].

Research

The first study we contributed to was one of his teachers, Clyde Kluckhohn[2]. Spuhler suggested a strategy of studying the nine genetic traits of the Ramah Navaho[2]. The nine traits included in the study were a secrater factor of saliva, PTC taste reaction, anterior thoracic venus patterns, color perceptions, occipital hair whorl, absence of peroneus teritus muscles, and the number of vallate papillae on the tongue[2].

His next project was a study of racial-ethnic differences in IQ[2]. This study was completed during the academic year of 1971-1972 at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, California[2]. He and other scholars cooperatively researched the genetic and environmental variations that would account for the racial-ethnic differences in IQ[2]. The results of the study stated that the environmental and genetic differences will not always occur[2]. After this study was completed he was hired as a chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan[2]. He started the first two courses with a focus of genetic anthropology in the United States, which influenced further teaching of biological anthropology[2]. The two courses were called " The Genetic Basis of Evolution" and "Population Genetics"[2].

Rewards

In 1990 James Spuhler was awarded the Award of Excellence for Scientific Reviewing by the National Academy of Sciences[3]. He was given this award for his reviews that used population genetics that study anthropological questions[3]. There were a wide array of study topics including race, intelligence, language, relationships among species, and human evolution. Spuhler explains that he writes for the "general scientific public, whether citizen or professional[3]." Over 700 publications have cited his work[3].

gollark: In the vague sense of "it matches patterns in things", certainly.

gollark: If I felt like investing far too much time in this, I could probably implement something like AlphaZero, which I think has a neural network act as a heuristic for tree search.

gollark: The "ideal" way would be for me to actually understand how minmax/α-β-pruning algorithms work, and just implement those instead of/augmenting the "MCTS" it uses right now.

gollark: I mean, that's not really the right question.

gollark: Are you a neuroscientist now?

References

"Death Notices". Anthropology News. 34 (1): 4–5. January 1993. doi:10.1111/an.1993.34.1.4.
Lasker, G. W. (August 1994). "Place of James Norman Spuhler in the development of anthropological genetics". Human Biology. 66 (4): 553–566. ISSN 0018-7143. PMID 8088749.
"James N. Spuhler". The Tony Hillerman Portal. Retrieved 2019-11-14.

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[an-1] "Death Notices". Anthropology News. 34 (1): 4–5. January 1993. doi:10.1111/an.1993.34.1.4.

[hb-2] Lasker, G. W. (August 1994). "Place of James Norman Spuhler in the development of anthropological genetics". Human Biology. 66 (4): 553–566. ISSN 0018-7143. PMID 8088749.

[:0-3] "James N. Spuhler". The Tony Hillerman Portal. Retrieved 2019-11-14.