George F. Oster | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | April 20, 1940
Died | April 15, 2018 | (aged 77)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater |
Columbia University University of California, Berkeley |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biology |
Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
Thesis | High temperature saturated liquid and vapor densities and the critical point of cesium (1967) |
Doctoral advisor | Charles F. Bonilla |
George Frederick Oster NAS (April 20, 1940 – April 15, 2018) [1] was an American mathematical biologist, and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at University of California, Berkeley. [2] [3] [4] He made seminal contributions to several varied fields including chaos theory, population dynamics, membrane dynamics and molecular motors. [5] He was a 1985 MacArthur Fellow.
He graduated from Columbia University, with a Ph.D., in Nuclear Engineering in 1967. [6] He was appointed as an assistant professor in at UC Berkeley in 1970. [6] In the early 1970s Oster collaborated with Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky on statistical mechanics. [6]
Oster's work with E. O. Wilson on populations dynamics of social animals, particularly ants, is considered pioneering work in evolution in social insects. [6] Oster was one of the first theoretical biologists to understand that a complex interplay between mechanical and chemical forces was at the root of most biological phenomena. [6]
He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004. [7] Oster was a Guggenheim Fellow, and a member of the science board of the Santa Fe Institute. [6]