curt stern (august 30, 1902 – october 23, 1981) was a german-born american geneticist. was a german-american geneticist of jewish descent. born in hamburg, germany, he studied zoology at the university of berlin, receiving his phd in 1923 at the age of 21. he was selected for a fellowship to study at columbia university, then the site of thomas hunt morgan's famous drosophila fly room.