Thomas Hunt Morgan (UK). Born in Lexington, Ky. on September 25, 1866, Morgan was a nephew of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. He attended the State College of Kentucky(University of Kentucky) during the 1880s. Morgan graduated as valedictorian in 1886 with a B.S. and an M.S. in 1888. He earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1890. Class of 2010. (Reverse) Thomas Hunt Morgan, 1866-1945- Morgan discovered the basic mechanisms of heredity and was a pioneering geneticist, winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933. In 1966, the University named the new Thomas Hunt Morgan School of Biological Sciences for him. Class of 2010.