David R. Stadler *52

David R. Stadler, emeritus professor of genetics at the University of Washington and longtime peace and anti-war activist, died Feb. 9, 2007, at home, after living five years with lymphoma. He was 81.

Stadler was educated at the University of Missouri and was a World War II veteran. He received a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton in 1952, the same year he joined the University of Washington’s botany department as a geneticist. During more than 50 years of research and teaching at that university, genetics grew from a sub-branch of botany to a discipline of its own, and then to an industry.

Stadler was among the few geneticists who had worked before Watson and Crick discovered the double-helix of DNA. In his last class, he reviewed the history of modern genetics, giving five decades of first-hand recollections of major figures and discoveries.

In a reminiscence written late in his life, Stadler called the university the storehouse of all that is best in people. He had an optimism rooted in an unshakable faith in reason.

He is survived by Anne, his wife of 54 years; their four children; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.