Person
Fraser, Alex Stewart (1923 - 2002)
- Born
- 24 December 1923
Edmonton, Middlesex, England - Died
- 14 July 2002
Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States of America - Occupation
- Geneticist
Summary
Alex Fraser, working with the SILLIAC computer at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) when he was at the Animal Genetics Laboratory at the University of Sydney, made his seminal contributions to evolutionary computation. He was one of the first to conceive and execute computer simulations of genetic systems, and his efforts in the 1950s and 1960s had a profound impact on computational models of evolutionary systems. The simulation algorithms he used were important not only in the simulation of genetical problems, but provided a menu of techniques that enriched the entire simulation effort in any problem that involved probability sampling among a population of alternatives, the heart of Monte Carlo methods. These algorithms were shared through papers published in the Australian Journal of Biological Science from 1957 to the early 1960s, and in international journals.
He moved from CSIRO in Sydney to Head of Genetics and Animal Husbandry, and the University of California at Davis, and then to the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, where remained.
He was once a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA).
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Details
Chronology
- 1945
- Education - Master of Science (MSc), Canterbury University College, New Zealand
- 1945 - 1946
- Career position - Honorary member, Wheat Research Institute, Lincoln, New Zealand
- 1947 - 1948
- Career position - Research Assistant to Dr F.W. Dry, Massey Agricultural College, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- 1949 - 1951
- Award - Senior Research Grant from Agricultural Research Council, UK
- 1951
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Edinburgh, Scotland
- c. 1952
- Life event - Moved to Australia
- c. 1952 - c. 1963
- Career position - Research Officer, later Principal Officer, Animal Genetics Laboratory, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO),, University of Sydney
- c. 1963
- Life event - Moved to California, USA
- c. 1963 - c. 1968
- Career position - Head of Genetics and Animal Husbandry, University of California, Davis, USA
- 1968 - 1972
- Career position - Head, Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- 1968 - 1989
- Career position - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- 1999
- Award - IEEE Neural Networks Council Pioneer Award in Evolutionary Computation
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Fogel, David B., 'In memoriam Alex S. Fraser [1923-2002]', IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 6 (5) (2002), 429-430, https://doi.org/10.1109/TEVC.2002.805212. Details
- Fraser, A. S., 'Simulation of genetic systems by automatic digital computers. II. Effects of Linkage on Rates of Advance Under Selection', Australian Journal of Biological Sciences, 10 (4) (1957), 492-500, https://doi.org/10.1071/BI9570492. Details
- Fraser, A. S., 'Simulation of genetic systems by automatic digital computers. I. Introduction', Australian Journal of Biological Science, 10 (4) (1957), 484-491, https://doi.org/10.1071/BI9570484. Details
Resources
- 'Fraser, Alex Stewart (1923-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475471. Details
Rosanne Walker; Ken McInnes
Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 14 February 2024