The Arthur Balfour Professorship of Genetics is the senior professorship in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, founded in 1912. It is thought to be the oldest Chair of Genetics in the English speaking world. The chair was endowed by Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, according to whom the money (£20,000) was "placed in ishands" by an anonymous benefactor. A condition of the endowment was that the first appointee to the chair would be chosen jointly by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

and the former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour.

Arthur Balfour Professors

* Reginald Punnett (1912–1940) * Ronald Fisher (1943–1957) *

John Marion Thoday John Marion Thoday FRS (30 August 1916 – 25 August 2008) was a British geneticist. He was the son of the botanist David Thoday. He was Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at Cambridge University between 1959 and 1983 and was elected a F ...

(1959–1983) *

John Robert Stanley Fincham John Robert Stanley Fincham FRS FRSE (11 August 1926 – 9 February 2005) was a noted British geneticist who made important contributions to biochemical genetics and microbial genetics. Education and personal life Fincham was educated at Peter ...

(1984–1991) *

Peter Neville Goodfellow Peter Neville Goodfellow, (born 4 August 1951) is a British geneticist best known for his work on sex determination and the ''SRY'' gene that encodes testis determining factor. He was Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Ca ...

(1992–1996) *

David Moore Glover David Moore Glover (born 28 March 1948) is a British geneticist and Research Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He served as Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, ...

(1999–2015) *

Anne Ferguson-Smith Anne Carla Ferguson-Smith (born 23 July 1961) is a mammalian developmental geneticist. She is the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and International Partnerships at the University of Cambridge. Formerly ...

(2015– )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Genetics, Balfour, Arthur, Cambridge Genetics in the United Kingdom Genetics, Balfour, Arthur Faculty of Biology, University of Cambridge 1912 establishments in England Genetics, Balfour, Arthur, Cambridge