Crodowaldo Pavan - Studies

Studies

Following Dreyfus' advice, in 1938 he enrolled in a course of natural history at the University of São Paulo, continuing to work in biological research under his mentor. His doctoral thesis on the subject of the blind cave fish Typhlobagrus kronci was completed in the same institution. In 1942, he accepted a position as assistant professor at the University of São Paulo, and quickly became a full professor, a position he held until his retirement in 1978.

In 1942, Pavan became involved in a pioneering research project on the genetics, taxonomy and ecology of Drosophila fruit flies, financed by the Rockefeller Foundation under the direction of the noted Russian-American biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky. This subject became Pavan's lifelong research interest and the source of his international recognition. In particular, Dr. Pavan introduced into biology the cytogenetical study of Rhynchosciara angelae, a fly which is noted for its giant chromosomes, thus facilitating the determination of the loci of genes. He and his collaborators were among the first to prove that the structure of genes and chromosomes was not fixed and could be changed by infections.

In 1966, Pavan accepted an invitation from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to establish a laboratory for further investigation on cellular genetics. In 1968, he accepted an invitation to become a tenured full professor at the University of Texas at Austin, in Austin, Texas. He returned to Brazil in 1975, and, after officially retiring from his post at the University of São Paulo, he accepted the position of full professor at the recently founded State University of Campinas, working as departmental chairman and dean of the Instituto de Biologia da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Institute of Biology) until a second retirement. He is currently an emeritus professor at both universities.