In Memoriam: Michael H. Crawford (1939–2024)

Abstract

On July 3rd, 2024, the world lost a true pioneer and leader in the fields of human biology and biological anthropology when Dr. Michael H. Crawford passed away at the age of 84. Dr. Crawford is widely regarded as one of the founders of the field of anthropological genetics (Figure 1). His pioneering work over a career of more than 50 years transformed our understanding of the origin and nature of human diversity (Crawford 2024). Michael influenced the field of human biology in a number of ways—through his innovative research, his skill as a graduate mentor, his work as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Human Biology, and his leadership within the Human Biology Association.

Michael was born on July 25th, 1939, in Shanghai, China, the son of Russian and Scottish American expatriates. According to some estimates, the Russian population in Shanghai during the 1930s topped 30 000, swelled by an influx of refugees from the Russian Revolution. Michael's early years in Shanghai are best captured by the well-known Chinese adage: “May you live in interesting times.”

After the Second World War, Mao Zedong's rise to power in China ushered in a period when foreigners were no longer welcome. In 1948, Michael, his parents, and his sister were evacuated to an uninhabited island in the Philippines. Many evacuees from China died while waiting to be relocated, but the Crawfords survived and, in 1949, were accepted by Australia, moving first to Canberra before eventually settling in Sydney. Three years later, the family emigrated to the United States—an epic journey that took them through Fiji, Hawaii, and Canada—before ultimately ending up in Seattle, Washington when Michael was 12.

In Seattle, the precocious young world-traveler graduated from O'Dea Catholic School in 1956 at the age of 16, and then entered the University of Washington, where he studied anthropology and biology. Michael received his bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in 1960, and continued on at UW, receiving his Master's degree in biological anthropology in 1965 and his PhD in 1967. Michael's dissertation research was on primate genetics and phylogeny, with a doctoral committee that included Arno Motulsky and Marshall T. Newman. In addition, during his graduate training, Michael was also strongly influenced by Derek Roberts, working with Roberts as a teaching assistant.

Michael's competitive spirit was established early as he excelled at both soccer and tennis while a student at Washington, continuing to play both long after his school days. His drive for academic productivity and excellence was also established early. His first publication, based on his doctoral research, was a single authored paper published in Science.

After receiving his PhD from Washington, Michael accepted a position in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he taught from 1967 to 1971. In 1971, Michael joined the Anthropology faculty at the University of Kansas. Over the ensuing 50+ years at KU, he established the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology as the nation's leading center for training in anthropological genetics.

In 1971, Michael organized the first major symposium on anthropological genetics at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, drawing together leading scholars in human biology, genetics, and demography (see Figure 2). This symposium resulted in the landmark 1973 edited volume with Peter Workman, Methods and Theories of Anthropological Genetics, which remains one of the seminal works in the field (Crawford and Workman 1973). In 2007, Michael provided an update on the state of the field in Anthropological Genetics: Theory, Methods and Applications, which examined how the molecular revolution reshaped anthropological genetics (Crawford 2007).

From 1988 to 2000, Michael helped to further expand and redefine the fields of anthropological genetics and human population biology during his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Human Biology. As editor, Michael revitalized the journal, giving it a new and sharper focus. Over his 12 years as editor, Human Biology regained its position as a leading journal in human population biology.

What is most extraordinary about Michael's research career is the tremendous breadth of his scholarship, both geographically and topically. Unlike most biological anthropologists, Crawford did not limit his focus to a single geographic region, but rather carried out long-term, comparative field research in locations around the world. Michael conducted research throughout the Americas—in Mennonite communities of Kansas, indigenous communities of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, fishing outposts of eastern Canada, and small-scale farming communities and urban barrios in Mexico and Central America. He also worked throughout Europe in Ireland, Northern Italy, and Hungary, as well as with numerous Indigenous populations throughout Siberia.

The span of research questions that Michael tackled is equally impressive. He carried out path breaking research on issues ranging from the peopling of the New World (Crawford 1998) to the genetic and lifestyle determinants of healthy aging (Crawford 2000), and the impact of migration on human biological variation (Crawford and Campbell 2012). This remarkable breadth of Michael's research is unmatched in the field of human biology and is summarized in his last book, In Search of Human Evolution (Crawford 2024).

In addition to his contributions as a scholar and researcher, Michael established an enduring legacy as a teacher and graduate mentor (see Figure 3). Over the span of his career, he trained 41 PhDs, more than any other biological anthropologist. Today, many of Michael's PhDs are among the most influential senior scholars in the field. Michael's success in training the next generation of scholars and in anthropological genetics and human biology derives in no small part from his fierce loyalty to his students and to his constant encouragement of their academic growth and success. As a mentor, Michael liked nothing better than a good debate about how best to tackle a problem, or how to interpret the results of an analysis. He challenged his students to discuss, debate, and be confident of their scientific judgment. Michael encouraged his students to publish their work early, often inviting them to contribute a chapter on their work to one of his edited volumes. He is held in memory with great affection and appreciation by his large number of students and post-doctoral fellows.

Michael's extraordinary contributions to the fields of human biology, biological anthropology, and anthropological genetics are clearly reflected in the many leadership positions that he held and the prestigious awards that he received. From 1998 to 2000, Michael served as the President of the HBA. He also served as the President of the American Association of Anthropological Geneticists (AAAG) from 1994 to 1996.

In 1996, Michael was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He received the Balfour-Jeffries, Higuchi Award for Research Excellence at the University of Kansas in 2006. In 2011, Michael was honored by the HBA with its Franz Boas Distinguished Achievement Award, and in 2016, he was honored by the American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) with the Charles Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award. Michael's enormous contributions to the fields of biological anthropology and human biology were celebrated by his students and colleagues at a poster symposium in his honor at the 2015 AABA/HBA Meetings in St. Louis (“Multi-generational Perspectives on Human Biology and Anthropological Genetics: A Symposium in Honor of Michael H. Crawford”) and at a symposium in his honor at the 2023 World Applied Anthropology Congress in Lawrence, Kansas (“Honoring Professor Michael H. Crawford”).

Michael will be dearly missed by his many students, research collaborators, and colleagues. Those who knew Michael and worked with him are so grateful for his friendship, generous mentorship, and for the many research and professional opportunities that he provided. Michael worked with students and colleagues on an enormous range of research topics. He had a distinctive skill for identifying the strengths of his students and colleagues, and for creating transformative research and training opportunities. Moreover, Michael was truly a global scholar, providing research support, training, and collaborations with scholars around the world.

Michael also generously opened his home to us all. With his lovely wife Carolynn and son Kenneth, he shared his wisdom and countless stories of adventures from the field. For those of us lucky enough to have known Michael, we hold closely to these cherished memories.