11 Facts About Bryan Clarke

Bryan Campbell Clarke was a British Professor of genetics, latterly emeritus at the University of Nottingham.

Bryan Clarke made the case for natural selection as an important factor in the maintenance of molecular variation, and in driving evolutionary changes in molecules through time.

Bryan Clarke was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1956 followed by a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1961 from the University of Oxford for research investigating factors affecting shell colour polymorphism in the land snails.

Bryan Clarke was appointed a Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in 1959 and was promoted to Reader by the time he left in 1971.

Bryan Clarke mentored many scientists in evolutionary genetics, supervising more than thirty research students, many of which went gone on to successful research careers themselves such as Steve Jones.

Bryan Clarke was a co-founder of the Population Genetics Group a scientific meeting for evolutionary and population genetics held annually in the UK since the 1960s.

Bryan Clarke was co-founder and trustee of the Frozen Ark project, launched in 2004 to preserve the DNA and living cells of endangered species worldwide.

Bryan Clarke acted as managing editor of the scientific journal Heredity from 1978 to 1985.

Bryan Clarke was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1982.

Bryan Clarke received one of the thirteen Darwin-Wallace Medals awarded by the Linnean Society of London in 2008; at that time the award was made only every 50 years.

Bryan Clarke was awarded the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society in 2010 'for his original and influential contributions to our understanding of the genetic basis of evolution'.