C. Clark Cockerham Papers 1952-1996

C. Clark (Columbus Clark) Cockerham was born on December 21, 1921, in Mountain Park, North Carolina. He received a B.S. in agriculture from the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (later North Carolina State University) in 1943 and served as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. In 1949 he earned an M.S. in animal industry from North Carolina State College, and in 1952 he earned a Ph.D. in animal breeding and genetics from Iowa State College. He then returned to North Carolina to teach and do research.

Cockerham combined biological insight with mathematical innovation. Theoretical predictions made possible through his work transformed crop and herd improvement, and benefited all sectors of agriculture and forestry. More than fifty per cent of the hybrid corn in the United States comes from lines that were developed with his help. The field of DNA fingerprinting, the matching of criminal suspects to their body fluids, owes much to his work.

Cockerham began North Carolina State's program in quantitative genetics in 1963 with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). That program was the largest federal grant project in existence at the university from 1963 through 1990. Cockerham wrote or co-wrote more than a hundred works that contributed to fundamental advances in understanding natural populations, including human populations. His early work set the course of agricultural genetics, and his later work focused on evolutionary genetics.

As a professor of statistics at North Carolina State University and the Director of the NIH Project Program in Statistics at NC State University, Cockerham received many honors and awards. He was the William Neal Reynolds Professor of Statistics and Genetics, winner of the Gamma Sigma Delta Award of Merit, a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a winner of the North Carolina Award in the field of science. Cockerham received the O. Max Gardner Award in 1980, became a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 1988, received the USDA Superior Service Award for Scientific Research in 1990, and was awarded the Holladay medal in 1994.

Cockerham was married to Joyce Allen Cockerham. The couple had three children. C. Clark Cockerham died on November 4, 1996, at the age of seventy-five.

Most of the papers contained in this collection are related to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quantitative Genetics Research Program Project GM 11546. The project was instituted by C. Clark Cockerham in 1963 and ran through 1990. It was the largest federal grant program in existence at North Carolina State University during that time. Additionally, contained in the collection there are his doctoral dissertation, administrative files generated by Cockerham during his long tenure as a professor of statistics at North Carolina State University. Also included are reprints of scientific and technical publications written and co-written by Cockerham along with a small collection of note cards used by the professor to track his work. There is also a bound collection of letters of congratulation written to commemorate Dr. Cockerhams's retirement in 1990.

This collection is organized into five series; the National Institutes of Health Quantitative Research Program Project Grant GM 11546; NC State University Department of Statistics Administration Files; Reprints; Note Cards; and Retirement Letters. Dr. Cockerham's original order of arrangement has been maintained wherever possible.

The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

[Identification of item], C. Clark Cockerham Papers, MC 00309, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Gift of Bruce Weir, Seattle, Wash., 2005 December (accession no. 2005-0021); 2023 January (accession no. 2023-0020).

Processed by Michael K Watts, 2006 September

Encoded by Michael K Watts, 2006 September