Alex Fraser (1923 – 14 July 2002) was a major innovator in the development of the computer modeling of population genetics and his work has stimulated many advances in genetic research over the past decades. His efforts in the 1950s and 1960s had a profound impact on the development of computational models of evolutionary systems. His seminal work, "Simulation of genetic systems by automatic digital computers" (1958), is quoted in the literature to this day. Fraser was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, and lived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

for most of his youth. He studied at the

University of New Zealand The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...

, and later went to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, and subsequently to the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

(CSIRO) in Sydney, Australia. It was at the CSIRO where Fraser made his seminal contributions to evolutionary computation. His earliest work was done on the SILIAC computer that was installed for the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

in 1956. The SILIAC was the Australian cousin to the

ILLIAC ILLIAC (Illinois Automatic Computer) was a series of supercomputers built at a variety of locations, some at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In all, five computers were built in this series between 1951 and 1974. Some more modern ...

machine that was developed at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. The machine was said to be running well when one could hear a 'rhythmic clicking of the relays inside it.' The clicking indicated that the computer was processing the iterations of the program correctly. Fraser began using it to simulate genetic selection processes. Fraser also starred in multiple TV shows during the early days of Australian television. His time with "Science in Close-Up" ended in a dramatic departure when censors refused to permit airing of a childbirth. Such footage is commonplace today but was forbidden at the time and that was why he walked out of the show. A surprisingly popular show was his "Doorway to Knowledge" as it was fairly sophisticated science that was broadcast at eleven o'clock in the morning. He achieved a certain measure of celebrity through the shows and he turned up quite regularly in the Sydney Morning Herald, the city's primary newspaper. In the 1960s, Fraser moved to the United States to act as visiting professor at the

University of California at Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. In 1967, he took over the Headship of Biological Sciences at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

. In 1983, Fraser suffered a stroke which left him unable to converse normally. The timing of this event was most tragic because Fraser was left unable to engage his colleagues, just at the time when interest in evolutionary models and simulations was beginning to rise within computer science. In 1999, Fraser received the 1999 IEEE Neural Networks Council Pioneer Award in Evolutionary Computation. He died 14 July 2002 at the age of 78, as a result of complications from a heart attack.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Alex 1923 births 2002 deaths Australian computer scientists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British expatriates in Hong Kong British expatriates in New Zealand British expatriates in Australia British expatriates in the United States