Timeline
A History of the Department of Genetics and Development
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1904
Thomas Hunt Morgan becomes a Professor of Experimental Zoology at Columbia and establishes the world's first Fly Lab, where he studies the inheritance of various mutations.
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1910
Morgan shows that genes reside on specific chromosomes.
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1969
The Department of Human Genetics and Development is established by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (without any allocation of funds for hiring faculty or providing laboratory or office space).
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1970
Dr. Paul Marks, the founding chairman of the department, is named dean of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
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1970
Dr. Robert Krooth is recruited as chair of the department.
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1974
The Training Program in Genetics and Development is established as one of the first predoctoral training programs under the National Institutes of General Medical Science.
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1974
Dr. Arthur Bank is named first chair of the Training Committee.
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1980
A unique qualifying exam process is developed under the supervision of Dr. Arthur Bank, in which students have to demonstrate they are deeply immersed in a project and can carry out pertinent experiments. (1980-1989)
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1981
Dr. Charles Cantor is named chair of the department.
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1984
Charles Cantor and David C. Schwartz develop pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
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1985
In a shift of focus to fundamental genetic research, the word "Human" is removed from the department title. The Department of Genetics and Development is officially formed.
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1989
Dr. Argiris Efstratiadis becomes acting chair of the department.
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1993
Claudio Stern becomes chair of the department.
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1995
Dr. Ginny Papaioannou becomes the chair of the Training Committee.
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2001
Frank Costantini takes over as acting chair of the department.
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2005
Our current chair, Dr. Gerard Karsenty, is recruited to take over the department.
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2016
Dr. Michael Shen takes over as chair of the Training Committee.
