Bob Wagner's academic and research contributions to The University
of Texas at Austin span nearly four decades, a time of transition
from classical transmission genetics to biochemical and molecular
genetics. Bob made many significant contributions to these changes
in the understanding of genetics.
A native son of the Bronx, New York, Bob was born May 11, 1918.
His grandparents were immigrants from Europe; his paternal grandparents
were from Germany and Austria and his maternal grandparents were
of Czech origin from Moravia. Indeed, his maternal grandmother
was from Brno and was contemporaneous with Gregor Mendel. Bob
liked to speculate that his grandmother, being Roman Catholic,
must surely have been aware of Mendel, who was Abbott of the
monastery at Brno at that time, though she was probably not acquainted
with his interest in growing peas.
Bob’s education included attendance at Townsend Harris
High School, an institution operated by City College of New York
(CCNY) for exceptional students. He then attended CCNY to prepare
for law school. However, the chemistry course that he took as
a freshman stimulated an interest in science, and his first biology
course, taken as a junior, convinced him that his future lay
there. He received a B.S. in chemistry from CCNY in 1940.
One of his faculty mentors, Herman Spieth, encouraged Bob to
pursue a graduate degree in biology. Both Spieth and Ernst Mayr
(then at the American Museum of Natural History) suggested that
he study with Theodosius Dobzhansky at the California Institute
of Technology. Dobzhansky was well known for his work on evolution
in the genus
Drosophila. This suited Bob very well,
both scientifically and otherwise, as he had a desire to see
something of the world outside of New York City. Dobzhansky agreed
to accept him, noting that he had just accepted a position at
Columbia University and Bob would work there. However, it was
not Bob’s intention to stay in New York, even to work with
Dobzhansky. Both Spieth and Dobzhansky then suggested that he
come to The University of Texas and study with J. T. Patterson,
whose work on
Drosophila evolution was similar to that
of Dobzhansky. And that is why R. P. Wagner arrived in Austin
on May 31, 1940, after a three-day train ride from New York.
Bob’s dissertation dealt with the natural nutrition
of
Drosophila and its relation to evolution of that
genus. Much of the work was done in the field with follow-up
in the laboratory. Although Patterson was the mentor of record,
the genetics group at Texas, though small, was remarkably talented.
Bob later credited Patterson with instilling a hard-work ethic,
Wilson Stone with making him into a geneticist, and T. S. Painter
with showing him the importance of laboratory research in biology.
Because of the war, Patterson encouraged Bob to complete his
dissertation as soon as possible, which he did in 1943. The title
was
The Natural Nutrition of Drosophila mulleri and Drosophila
aldrichi. Following his graduation, he spent a year as instructor
in zoology at UT, followed by a year working in Dallas for the
National Cotton Council of America on research sponsored by the
Army Quartermaster Corps.
With the war ended, Bob accepted a position as assistant
professor at The University of Texas with the proviso that he
could have time off for postdoctoral studies. In 1946, he was
selected as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow to
continue his genetic studies at the California Institute of Technology.
It was there that he met George Beadle and A. H. Sturtevant and
became deeply involved in understanding the relationship between
genes and proteins. He also met H. K. Mitchell, and they began
a collaboration that later produced the well known textbook
Genetics
and Metabolism. Bob also met and married Margaret (Peggy)
Campbell in 1947 prior to returning to Austin.
On his return, Bob moved the focus of his research to
the red bread mold
Neurospora crassa, concentrating
on nutritional mutants and their genetic and biochemical defects.
Bob and his many graduate students and post-doctoral fellows
demonstrated steps involved in the complex biosynthesis of isoleucine
and valine and the intracellular localization of that system
to the mitochondria of
Neurospora. These studies were
published as a series of papers in major research journals. Bob
was internationally recognized for his outstanding biochemical
studies in
Neurospora, and for decades, he served as
an intellectual leader of the "genetics group" at UT.
Bob was a natural at mentoring students and faculty, with his
easy going manner, cheerful smile, and sincere interest in others.
In 1977, Bob retired from UT, and he and Peggy moved
to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He immediately became a consultant for
the Life Science Division of the Los Alamos National Laboratory,
a relationship that continued until 1999. He was an eager participant
in the early development of the Human Genome Project. Bob was
a strong believer that genes are not scattered haphazardly along
chromosomes, and much of his efforts during this period were
directed to studies of the evolutionary conservation of linkage.
In addition to his research publications, Bob coauthored
four books. The first, with H. K. Mitchell, was
Genetics
and Metabolism (1955; 2nd ed 1964). This was the first major
synthesis and summary of the emerging field of biochemical genetics
and was an important influence worldwide, being translated into
several languages and used extensively as a textbook. Bob was
the senior author (with B. H. Judd, B. G. Sanders, and R. H.
Richardson) of the genetics text
Introduction to Modern Genetics,
published in 1980, bridging the gap between classical and modern
genetics. With Eldon Sutton, he published
Genetics: A Human
Concern (1985) based on the non-majors genetics course taught
by these authors for a number of years. After his retirement
from UT and while serving as a consultant to the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Bob’s interest in chromosome organization led
to another monograph,
Chromosomes: A Synthesis (with
M. P. Maguire and R. L. Stallings, 1993).
Bob had many interests in addition to experimental science.
These included philosophy and the interface between science and
religion. In his later years in Santa Fe, he was recognized as
an articulate participant in discussions of these issues.
In his many years as a professor of genetics at UT, Bob always
had his eye on the future. In 1966, in reply to a question from
one of his graduate students, he said that the University would
have a future facility for the study of molecular biology but “that
it would take some time.” Today, it is known as the Moffett
Molecular Biology Building and home of the interdisciplinary
Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Bob was in every way an outstanding researcher, teacher, mentor,
and a life long friend and colleague of many. The excellence
he represented so well was recognized by his selection as a Guggenheim
Fellow, 1957; an NIH Research Career Award, 1962-1977; and President
of the Genetics Society of America, 1971. On his retirement,
he was named professor emeritus of zoology at UT and, with the
reorganization of biological sciences, professor emeritus of
molecular genetics and microbiology, 1999. His death on March
3, 2004, marked the end of a distinguished career. He was preceded
in death by his wife, Peggy. He is survived by their three children,
Philip, James, and Ruth.
<signed>
Larry R. Faulkner, President
The University of Texas at Austin
<signed>
Sue Alexander Greninger, Secretary
The General Faculty
