Fred Utter, Ph. D., is an affiliate professor in the School of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Washington.[1] Considered the founding father of fishery genetics,[2] in 1959 he began work in the ancestor laboratory of the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center fishery genetics laboratory, of which he became the head in 1969. He led the genetics group until he retired from NOAA in 1988. During retirement, he has remained active in the field, acting as editor of the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, as well as being a member of the Interior Columbia River Technical Recovery Team.[3] He has authored over 150 scientific publications, and co-edited the book Population Genetics and Fishery Management.