Dr Phyllis J. McAlpine
Dr Phyllis McAlpine, Chair of the Nomenclature Committee for many years up until 1996, died at the beginning of October 1998. She was largely responsible for setting up the human gene nomenclature committee, devising its Guidelines and promoting the use of standardised gene nomenclature, during the most active part of the human gene mapping era. Whilst maintaining an academic and research career, she devoted a great deal of time and effort to nomenclature work. When she retired from the Nomenclature Committee in 1996 she was replaced with the equivalent of 3 full-time staff, which demonstrates how much effort was required by that time. The current Nomenclature Committee acknowledges with gratitude the tremendous energy and commitment that Phyllis devoted to the naming of human genes, and hopes to continue the task in this new era of rapid sequencing.