Reginald Ruggles Gates | |
|---|---|
 Reginald Ruggles Gates in 1921 | |
| Born | (1882-05-01)May 1, 1882 nearMiddleton, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | August 12, 1962(1962-08-12) (aged 80) |
| Alma mater | Mount Allison University McGill University University of Chicago |
| Spouse(s) | Marie Stopes (1911–1914, annulled) Jennie Williams (1929, dissolved) Laura Greer (1955–)[4] |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Spermatophytes,Oenothera[2] |
| Institutions | King's College London |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | The standardauthor abbreviationR.R.Gates is used to indicate this person as the author whenciting abotanical name.[3] |
Reginald Ruggles Gates (May 1, 1882 – August 12, 1962), was a Canadian-born geneticist who published widely in the fields of botany andeugenics.
Reginald Ruggles Gates was born on May 1, 1882, nearMiddleton, Nova Scotia, to a family of English ancestry. He had a twin sister named Charlotte.[1]
Gates graduated with first class honours in science fromMount Allison University in 1903.[5] Further studies toward a second B.Sc. fromMcGill University were interrupted by a year in which he returned to his childhood home in Middleton, Nova Scotia, where he served as vice-principal in a local school. He completed this second B.Sc. in 1905, focusing on botany, before accepting a Senior Fellowship atUniversity of Chicago where he completed his Ph.D. on heredity inOenothera lata (evening primrose) in 1908.
Gates did botanical work inMissouri in 1910. Later, he was a lecturer atBedford College, London[6] and Professor of Biology atKing's College London.[7] He was known for his studies ofOenothera and other plants.[8]
Gates was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society in 1931.[2][1] His nomination reads
Professor Gates enjoys a widespread reputation as a distinguished investigator of cytological problems and especially in connection with genetics. He has thrown much light on the behaviour of Oenothera, which formed the basis of De Vries well-known theory of mutations. He has trained a number of cytological students, some of whom now fill posts of importance. He is the author of over 100 papers and memoirs, some of which have been published by the Royal Society. Latterly he has paid attention to genetical anthropology and is the author of several books on this subject.[9]
Additionally, Gates was a eugenicist. In 1923, he wroteHeredity and Eugenics. He maintained his ideas on race and eugenics long afterWorld War II, into the era when these were deemed anachronistic.[10] He was a founder ofMankind Quarterly and theInternational Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics,[7] his articles abounded in the journal asActa Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae.[11] He was a strong opponent ofinterracial marriage and, according to A. S. Winston, "argued that races were separate species."[7]
In 1911, Gates marriedMarie Stopes, but the marriage was annulled in 1914, with Stopes claiming the marriage had not been consummated. Gates did not contest the divorce, although he disputed Stopes's claims, describing her as "super-sexed to a degree that was almost pathological" and adding to this "I could have satisfied the desires of any normal woman".[12]
Gates married Jennie Williams in 1929; the marriage was later dissolved. In 1955, he married Laura Greer.
Gates died on August 12, 1962, and was buried inBrookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England. He is memorialized by the Ruggles Gates Award atMount Allison University.[13][14]
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