In memoriam: Gabriel Ward Lasker (April 29, 1912-August 27, 2002).

Abstract

Gabriel W. Lasker died on August 27, 2002 from complications of kidney disease. He was 90 years old. Lasker was one of the leading figures in anthropology after World War II. He helped create the population approach in biological anthropology, which rejected concepts of fixed racial typology in favor of variation and plasticity in adaptation. He developed the methodology of using family surnames in studies of human genetics and migration. Lasker served the profession as the editor of major journals and books and as an officer in its societies. Born in England, Lasker came to the United States with his family in 1916. His early education was in various progressive private schools. After attending the University of Wisconsin Experimental College for 2 years, he transferred to the University of Michigan, where he graduated with a B.A. in 1934, but without any major or any coursework in anthropology. He did some research with his mother (Margaret Naomi Ward Lasker, a biochemist) and published his first paper with her in Human Biology in 1936. Because of the Depression, he was unable to find regular employment. He did find a job in China, where he lived for 2 years (1934–1936), teaching English to Chinese railroad workers at Chian T’ung University in Peking (now Beijing) and studying the Chinese language. In an autobiographical note published in a special issue of Human Biology in 1982, Lasker explains that his father led him to China. Bruno Lasker (a prominent social scientist with expertise in Asia) advised his son that “anyone who knew Chinese could always have a job.” While in China, several contacts with faculty at the American Medical College of Peking led the younger Lasker to an interest in physical anthropology. With support of those faculty, Lasker applied to Harvard and was accepted into the graduate program. Lasker wrote that since he “never had a course in anthropology I had no bad record in the subject and Ernest Hooton was willing to take me on. . .” Lasker received his M.A. in 1940 and a Ph.D. in 1945. The title of his dissertation was Physical Characteristics of Chinese: A Study of Physical Differences and Developments Among Chinese at Home and Abroad. Hooton’s approach to physical anthropology represented the then dominant view of human physical “types” and identifiable “races.” While writing his thesis, Lasker consulted with Franz Boas and H.L. Shapiro, who advocated the view that human biology and anatomy were plastic. Lasker tried to incorporate both perspectives of human biology in his dissertation, which led Hooton to proclaim that it was “the biggest damn thesis I have ever seen; really two theses (haw, haw, haw); the one I wanted and the one you wanted to write yourself (haw, haw!).”