Gerald "Jerry" McClearn (July 28, 1927 – January 5, 2017) was an American behavior geneticist and professor emeritus of health and human development and biobehavioral health at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

Education

McClearn received his undergraduate degree from

Allegheny College Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the G ...

and took his Ph.D. in psychology at

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. After two year-long spells as instructor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and then assistant professor of psychology at Allegheny College, he took up postdoctoral positions at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

McClearn was on staff at the Department of Psychology at University of California, Berkeley from 1956 to 1965. He then joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

, as an associate professor. Promoted to full professor, he remained at Boulder until 1981. Early on at Colorado, McClearn planned to form a research institute dedicated to research and teaching in behavioral genetics; he subsequently founded the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

in 1966, and was an early member of the

Behavior Genetics Association The Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) is a learned society established in 1970 that promotes research into the connections between heredity and behavior, both human and animal. Its members support education and training in behavior genetics and ...

, becoming one of its first presidents in 1974. He was the recipient of the Dobzhansky Award in 1989, the Robert W. Kleemeier Award from the Gerontological Society of America (2009) "in recognition for outstanding research in the field of gerontology”, and the Fondation Ipsen's Longevity Prize.

Selected works

Books

* * *

References

External links

Gerald E. McClearn faculty page
2017 deaths 1927 births People from Mercer County, Pennsylvania Behavior geneticists 20th-century American psychologists Allegheny College alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty University of Colorado Boulder faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 21st-century American psychologists {{US-academic-stub