Theophilus Painter

{{Infobox scientist

| image =

| birth_name = Theophilus Shickel Painter

| birth_date = {{birth date |1889|8|22}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age |1969|10|5|1889|8|22}}

| death_place =

| fields = Zoology, genetics

| workplaces = University of Texas

| education =

| known_for = Sex-determination genes X and Y

| awards = Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal

}}

Theophilus Shickel Painter (August 22, 1889 – October 5, 1969) was an American zoologist best known for his work on the structure and function of chromosomes, especially the sex-determination genes X and Y in humans.{{cite journal | doi= 10.1126/science.53.1378.503| journal = Science

|first = Theophilus S. |last =Painter

| pmid = 17839040

| bibcode = 1921Sci....53..503P

| url = https://zenodo.org/record/2516063

}}[https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/theophilus-shickel-painter-1889-1969 Entry on Painter by Dorothy Haskett in The Embryo Project Encyclopedia] He was the first to discover that human sex was determined by an X/Y heteromorphic chromosomal pair mechanism.{{cite journal | doi= 10.1086/280002|volume = 58|number = 659|year = 1924|first = Theophilus S. |last =Painter

| journal = American Naturalist|title = The Sex Chromosomes of Man

| pages=506–524 }}{{cite journal | url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jez.a.20072 | doi=10.1002/jez.a.20072 | title=Theophilus painter: First steps toward an understanding of the human genome | date=2004 | last1=Ruddle | first1=Frank H. | journal=Journal of Experimental Zoology | volume=301A | issue=5 | pages=375–377 | pmid=15114644 | bibcode=2004JEZA..301..375R | url-access=subscription }}Glass, Bentley (1990) [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/painter-theophilus-shickel.pdf Theophilus Shickel Painter 1889—1969: A Biographical Memoir], National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC. Retrieved 24 Jan 2022.

He also carried out work in identifying genes in fruit flies (Drosophila).{{cite journal |journal=Genetics| doi= 10.1093/genetics/19.3.175| title = A New Method for the Study of Chromosome Aberrations and the Plotting of Chromosome Maps in Drosophila Melanogaster|year =1934| volume = 19| number = 3|pages = 175–188 |first = Theophilus S. |last =Painter| pmid= 17246718| pmc= 1208478}} His work exploited the giant polytene chromosomes in the salivary glands of Drosophila and other Dipteran larvae.{{cite journal | doi= 10.1093/genetics/19.5.448|journal =Genetics|year = 1934|volume = 19|number=5|pages = 448–469|first = Theophilus S. |last =Painter|title = The Morphology of the X Chromosome in Salivary Glands of Drosophila Melanogaster and a New Type of Chromosome Map for This Element|pmid =17246733|pmc = 1208493}} Painter was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1938 and the American Philosophical Society in 1939.{{Cite web |title=Theophilus Shickel Painter |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20000834.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=www.nasonline.org}}{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Theophilus+Painter&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}

Academic administration

Painter joined the faculty at the University of Texas in 1916 and, except for military duty during World War I, stayed there his whole career. He was, in succession, associate professor, professor and distinguished professor of zoology. He served as acting president (1944–1946) and president (1946–1952) of the University of Texas and retired from active teaching in 1966.{{cite web | url =https://president.utexas.edu/past-presidents/theophilus-shickel-painter|title = Theophilus Shickel Painter |date = 11 January 2016 }}

Racial segregation

Painter was president of the University of Texas when Texas resident Heman Marion Sweatt applied for and was denied admission due to his race. Painter spoke out against integration, and voiced his disapproval of Sweatt's admittance. Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S.629 (1950), which proved an integral stepping stone in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that held that "separate is inherently unequal" and led to the integration of America's public schools.

Gender research

Painter is also known for his early study of human chromosomes. In a paper published in 1923, he first gave the number 24 for the count of human meiotic chromosomes.{{cite journal | doi= 10.1002/jez.1400370303|first = Theophilus S. |last =Painter|year = 1923|title = Studies in mammalian spermatogenesis, II. The spermatogenesis of man|journal = J. Exp. Zool. |volume = 37|issue = 3 |pages =291–338|bibcode = 1923JEZ....37..291P }} He had tried to count the tangled mass of chromosomes he could see under a microscope in spermatocytes in slices of testicle and arrived at the figure of 24. Others later repeated his experiment in other ways and agreed upon the number of 24. Popular thinking held that if there were 24 chromosomes in spermatocytes, there must be an equal number contributed by the female and the human chromosome number must be 48, which was undisputed for more than 30 years.{{cite web|title=The bizarre case of the chromosome that never was|first=Robert|last=Matthews|url=http://blogs.saschina.org/pudongtok/files/2010/03/Problems-with-authority-in-Science.pdf|accessdate=13 July 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215103947/http://blogs.saschina.org/pudongtok/files/2010/03/Problems-with-authority-in-Science.pdf|archivedate=15 December 2013}} Then in 1955, Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan, using more advanced techniques, looked at the chromosomes in human somatic cells and found 46 chromosomes{{cite journal | doi= 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1956.tb03010.x|journal =Hereditas| volume = 42| pages = 1–6|year= 1956 |title = The chromosome number of man|first1 = J.|last1 =Tjio|first2 = A.|last2 = Levan|issue =1–2|doi-access = free}} and the human chromosome number was finally revised.

In 1934 Painter was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.{{cite web|title=Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal|url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_elliot|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|accessdate=16 February 2011}}

References

External links

{{Handbook of Texas|id=fpa10|name=Theophilus Shickel Painter}}
{{Biographical Memoirs|painter-theophilus-shickel}}

Painter, Theophilus Shickel

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Painter, Theophilus Shickel

Category:American science teachers

Category:20th-century American academics

Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society