Background
Charles Child was born on February 2, 1869 in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States, the son of Charles Chauncey and Mary Elizabeth (Manning) Child.
Charles Child was born on February 2, 1869 in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States, the son of Charles Chauncey and Mary Elizabeth (Manning) Child.
Child was a Bachelor of Philosophy in Wesleyan University, Connecticut in 1890, and Master of Science two years late. He had Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University Leipzig, Germany in 1894.
In Naples Zoological Station, Naples, Italy, Child was an independent research during 1894-1895. At the University of Chicago, Illinois he became a faculty member the same year and held this position for almost 40 years, he became a full professor in 1916, and was a zoology department chairperson from 1934 during 3 years. At the Duke University, Durham, NC, he was a visiting professor in 1930. In the organization named "Rockefeller Foundation", Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan Charles Child held the position of visiting professor from 1930 to 1931.
Child received many honors in his lifetime and was highly respected in his field. He was a guest lecturer at universities around the world. His most important contribution to the field of zoology was the gradient theory, the concept that an organism’s regenerative ability takes place in physiological stages along an axis, with each physiological stage being connected to and affecting those areas surrounding it.
Child was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of Academy Sciences, American Society Zoölogists, American Naturalists, American Physiological Society, American Association Anatomists, foreign member of Linneau Society London, honorary member of Societe Royale Zoologique de Belgique, Phi Beta Kappa.
In 1899 Child married Lydia Van Meter, daughter of John Van Meter, the longtime dean and acting president of Goucher College in Baltimore. They had one daughter, Jeannette Manning Child.
