Alfred Romer

Alfred Romer
Alfred Romer in 1965
Born	Alfred Sherwood Romer December 28, 1894 White Plains, New York
Died	November 5, 1973 (age 78)
Nationality	United States
Fields	paleontology
Institutions	Museum of Comparative Zoology
Alma mater	Amherst College Columbia University
Notable awards	Mary Clark Thompson Medal (1954) Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal (1956) Penrose Medal (1962) Paleontological Society Medal (1966) Fellow of the Royal Society Linnean Medal (1972) Wollaston Medal (1973)

Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution.

Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, and studied at Amherst College achieving a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Biology and Columbia University pursuing with a M.Sc in Biology and graduating with a doctorate in zoology in 1921. Romer joined the department of geology and paleontology at the University of Chicago as an associate professor in 1923. He was an active researcher and teacher. His collecting program added important Paleozoic specimens to the Walker Museum of Paleontology. In 1934 he was appointed professor of biology at Harvard University. In 1946, he also became director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1954 Romer was awarded the Mary Clark Thompson Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Academy's Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal in 1956.

Romer was very keen in investigating vertebrate evolution. Comparing facts from paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology, he taught the basic structural and functional changes that happened during the evolution of fishes to primitive terrestrial vertebrates and from these to all other tetrapods. He always emphasized the evolutionary significance of the relationship between the form and function of animals and the environment.