Lilian Vaughan Morgan

Lilian Vaughan Morgan
Born
Lilian Vaughan Sampson

(1870-07-07)July 7, 1870
DiedDecember 6, 1952(1952-12-06) (aged 82)
Other namesLilian Vaughan Sampson
Alma materBryn Mawr (B.S.), (M.S.)
Known forDiscovery of attached-X chromosomes, discovery of ring chromosomes
SpouseThomas Hunt Morgan
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
InstitutionsBryn Mawr College
Columbia University
California Institute of Technology

Lilian Vaughan Morgan (née Sampson; July 7, 1870 – December 6, 1952) was an American experimental biologist who made seminal contributions to the genetics of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, although her work was obscured by the attention given her husband, Nobel laureate Thomas Hunt Morgan. Lilian Morgan published sixteen single-author papers between 1894 and 1947. Probably her most significant scientific contribution was the discovery of the attached-X chromosome and an entirely new pattern of inheritance in Drosophila in 1921. She also discovered the closed or ring-X chromosome in 1933. Both are important research tools today.