Agar, Wilfred E.

Description

Agent TypePersonIdentifierUMA-AG-000000180Activities & OccupationsAcademics - ZoologyGenderMaleHistoryWilfred Eade Agar was born on 27 April 1882 at Wimbledon, England, seventh of nine children of Edward Larpent Agar and his wife Agnes, nee Henty. He was educated at Sedbergh School, Yorkshire, and in 1900 he entered King's College, Cambridge, to read zoology. He graduated B.A. in 1903 (M.A., 1907). At Cambridge Agar developed the ambition to research genetics. In 1904 he was appointed demonstrator in zoology at the University of Glasgow. His work on the embryology of the lungfish 'Lepidosiren' and 'Protopterus' led to a fellowship at King's College, Cambridge which he could fulfil with research in Glasgow. The cells of this fish, 'Lepidosiren', being unusually large, offered him the opportunity to study chromosomes and in 1907, Agar made an expedition to Gran Chaco, Paraguay, to collect material for cytological study. His meticulous study of spermatogenesis in 'Lepidosiren' provided critical confirmation that the chromosome mechanism could provide a physical basis for Mendel's laws.
In 1908 Agar married Elizabeth MacDonald in Glasgow. After participating in the First World War, he and his young family travelled to Melbourne in 1919 where he accepted the chair of zoology at the University of Melbourne. His courses in the newer disciplines of cytology and genetics were pioneering in Australian universities. Agar was a member of the University of Melbourne Council, and twice dean of the faculty of science. As chairman of the Professorial Board in 1931-34 he guided the deliberations that preceded the appointment of a full-time vice-chancellor. He was a councillor of the Royal Society of Victoria for twenty years and president in 1927-28. His services to science and to the university were recognized by an O.B.E. in 1939 and a C.B.E. in 1948.
Agar and his family lived on the university campus until his retirement in 1948 when they moved to Kew, Melbourne. He died on 14 July 1951 at Kew survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

For a full biography see: Drummond, F. H., 'Agar, Wilfred Eade (1882-1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/agar-wilfred-eade-4975/text8259, accessed 15 June 2012.

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Dates

Date1882-1951

Names

TitleProfessorGiven NameWilfredMiddle NameEadeFamily NameAgar

Professional Relationships

Member of OrganisationEugenics Society of VictoriaDepartment Of Zoology (The University of Melbourne)

University of Melbourne Archives

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Agar, Wilfred E.