James Spuhler

James Norman Spuhler (March 1, 1917 – September 2, 1992)^[1] was an American biological anthropologist who has been described as "the founder of anthropological genetics".^[2] He taught at the University of New Mexico from 1967 to 1984, where his research focused on human genetics.^[3] In 1990, he received the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing.^[2] He died of cancer at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on September 2, 1992.^[1]

James Spuhler began his education at the University of New Mexico.^[1]  He started at the university on a football scholarship, but gave up his scholarship to focus on his education.^[1]  After he graduated, he was sent to China because of World War 2.^[2]  While in China he served as a Naval officer and learned to speak some Chinese and Japanese.^[2] When he returned from the war he started at Harvard University to be trained in physical anthropology.^[1]  While studying at Harvard he wrote his dissertation on human genetics, which was one of the first of this topic submitted to any Department of Anthropology in the United States.^[1]  While he was at Harvard, genetic knowledge was not used in relation to human populations as Spuhler was the first to be trained in this field.^[2]  His dissertation prevented information for his two different subjects of expertise: human genetics and physical anthropology.^[1]  Following his Ph.D. he worked as an instructor at the Ohio State University in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology.^[1]  Spuhler became a reviewer but never worked full time because he continued to do research in the field and laboratory.^[3]

The first study we contributed to was one of his teachers, Clyde Kluckhohn.^[2]  Spuhler suggested a strategy of studying the nine genetic traits of the Ramah Navaho.^[2]  The nine traits included in the study were a secrater factor of saliva, PTC taste reaction, anterior thoracic venus patterns, color perceptions, occipital hair whorl, absence of peroneus teritus muscles, and the number of vallate papillae on the tongue.^[2]

His next project was a study of racial-ethnic differences in IQ.^[2]  This study was completed during the academic year of 1971–1972 at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, California.^[2] He and other scholars cooperatively researched the genetic and environmental variations that would account for the racial-ethnic differences in IQ.^[2] The results of the study stated that the environmental and genetic differences will not always occur.^[2] After this study was completed he was hired as a chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.^[2]  He started the first two courses with a focus of genetic anthropology in the United States, which influenced further teaching of biological anthropology.^[2]  The two courses were called " The Genetic Basis of Evolution" and "Population Genetics".^[2]

In 1990 James Spuhler was awarded the Award of Excellence for Scientific Reviewing by the National Academy of Sciences.^[3]  He was given this award for his reviews that used population genetics that study anthropological questions.^[3]  There were a wide array of study topics including race, intelligence, language, relationships among species, and human evolution. Spuhler explains that he writes for the "general scientific public, whether citizen or professional.^[3]" Over 700 publications have cited his work.^[3]