Concepts of Genetics, 13th edition

About our authors

William S. Klug is an Emeritus Professor of Biology at The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College) in Ewing, New Jersey, where he served as Chair of the Biology Department for 17 years. He received his B.A. degree in Biology from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Prior to The College of New Jersey, he was on the faculty of Wabash College as an Assistant Professor, where he first taught genetics as well as general biology and electron microscopy.

His research interests have involved ultrastructural and molecular genetic studies of development, utilizing oogenesis in Drosophila as a model system. He has taught the genetics course and the senior capstone seminar course in Human and Molecular Genetics to undergraduate biology majors for over 4 decades. He was the recipient in 2001 of the first annual teaching award given at The College of New Jersey, granted to the faculty member who most challenges students to achieve high standards. He also received the 2004 Outstanding Professor Award from Sigma Pi International; that same year he was nominated as Educator of the Year, an award given by the Research and Development Council of New Jersey. When he is away from revision files and reading the genetic literature, he can often be found paddling in the Gulf of Mexico or in Maine's Penobscot Bay.

Michael A. Palladino is currently Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Stockton University. He is the former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Bloomfield College of Montclair State University. Prior to Bloomfield, he served as Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Dean of the School of Science, and Professor of Biology at Monmouth University. He received his B.S. in biology from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey), where he was a student and advisee of Steve Klug, and his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Virginia.

He has received several awards for research, teaching, and leadership including the 2023 Distinguished Service Award and the 2009 Young Andrologist Award of the American Society of Andrology, the 2005 Distinguished Teacher Award from Monmouth University, and the 2005 Caring Heart Award from the New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research.

Darrell J. Killian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO, where he has served as department chair. He received his B.A. degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, prior to working as a Research Technician In Molecular Genetics at Rockefeller University in New York, New York. He earned his Ph.D. in Developmental Genetics from New York University in New York, New York and received his postdoctoral training at the University of Colorado - Boulder in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.

Prior to joining Colorado College, he was an Assistant Professor of Biology at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, New Jersey, where he first met Dr. Klug. His research focuses on the genetic regulation of animal development, and he has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Currently, he and his undergraduate research assistants are investigating the molecular genetic regulation of nervous system development using C. elegans and Drosophila as model systems. He teaches undergraduate courses in genetics, molecular and cellular biology, stem cell biology, and developmental neurobiology. When away from the classroom and lab, he can often be found watching his daughters play soccer, playing frisbee with his dog, or cycling trails.