G. Lawrence Vankin

G. Lawrence Vankin, Williams College professor of biology, emeritus, 72, of 88 Cole Ave., Williamstown, died Tuesday at Berkshire Medical Center.
Born April 22, 1931, in Baltimore, Md., he was the son of Maurice B. and S. Belle (Katz) Vankin. He grew up in Baltimore, Reading, Pa., and Brooklyn, N.Y.
Vankin earned a bachelor of science from New York University in 1954, a master of arts with a concentration in zoology and genetics from Wesleyan University in 1956, and a Ph.D. from N.Y.U. in 1962. His doctoral work focused on vertebrate morphogenesis and developmental genetics.
He was a graduate teaching assistant at Wesleyan (1954-56) and a graduate teaching fellow (1956-59) and a graduate research assistant (1959-62) in embryology at N.Y.U. In 1968, he served as a visiting assistant professor in the department of anatomy at Cornell University Medical College.
He came to Williams in 1962, was awarded tenure in 1968, and was named full professor in 1975. He served as director of the college’s Kresge Electron Microscope Laboratory.
His fields of expertise included electron microscopy and cell biology, developmental biology and vertebrate embryology, and genetics. Over the course of his career, he continued a strong interest in theoretical biology and from 1984 until his retirement in 1994 he taught in the history of science department such courses as “Evolution: The History of an Idea,” “Theories of Human Evolution: A History of Ideas,” and “The Biological Revolution: A Century of DNA.”
He published extensively in scientific journals including Anatomical Record, American Zoologist, Developmental Biology, and Experimental Animals. He was a member of the Society for Developmental Biology, the American Society of Zoologists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the scientific honor society Sigma Xi.
An avid baseball fan and player, he participated in semi-professional ball and had a tryout with the New York Yankees.
He leaves is wife, Jean French Vankin; a son, Jonathan Michael Vankin, of New York City; a daughter, Laura Elizabeth Vankin, of New York City; and a cousin, Robert Speert, of Baltimore, Md.
FUNERAL NOTICE -- Funeral services for G. Lawrence Vankin will be held Friday, April 2, 1 p.m., at the Williams College Jewish Religious Center with Rabbi Jeff Goldwasser officiating.
There are no calling hours.
Memorial donations may be made to the Village Ambulance Service in care of the George M. Hopkins Funeral Home, 61-67 Spring St., Williamstown, which is in charge of arrangements.