Alfred Walter "Fuzz" Crompton (born 21 February 1927 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

) is a South African paleontologist and zoologist. Crompton studied at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and obtained a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a masters in 1949, in zoology. He completed his PhD at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

University in 1953. From 1954 to 1956 Crompton curated the national paleontological museum at Bloemfontein, and from 1956 to 1964 directed the South African Museum in Cape Town, where he also lectured at the university. From 1964 to 1970 he was a professor of biology and geology at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, and then from 1970 to 1976 he directed the Peabody Museum of Natural History. From 1970 to 1982 he directed the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, and from 1970 until 1985 was a professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(''Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology''). Between 1985 and 2005 Crompton was named the emeritus ''Fisher Professor of Natural History''. In 1976/77 and 1983/64 Crompton was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. He is a Fellow in the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1969)''American Academy of Arts and Sciences. '' and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. In 2011 he received the Romer-Simpson-Medal.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crompton, Alfred W. 1927 births South African paleontologists Harvard University faculty South African zoologists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Living people South African expatriates in the United Kingdom South African expatriates in the United States