University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special UND Departmental Histories Collections 2008 A History of the Biology Department Omer R. Larson University of North Dakota Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/departmental-histories Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Larson, Omer R., "A History of the Biology Department" (2008). UND Departmental Histories. 30. https://commons.und.edu/departmental-histories/30 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in UND Departmental Histories by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA 1883-2008 CELEBRATING 125 YEARS A HISTORY OF THE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT u N D Omer R. Larson A History of the Biology Depar.tment by Omer R. Larson A project of the University Quasquicentennial Committee, Dawn Botsford, Special Events Coordinator CONTENTS Foreword ............................ ..................................... .............................iii Chapters 1. In the Beginning ............. ...... .... .......................... ...................... 1 2. Evolution of the Museum and Herbarium .......... ................... ............. 4 3. The Brannon Era .. .......................... .......................................... 15 4. Devils Lake and the R. T. Young Era ... .......................................... 21 5. The Wheeler Era .............................................. ......... ...............28 6. Growth and New Leadership ...................... .................. ................ 44 7. The 1970s: A Turbulent Decade ........ .. .......................... ........... .... .. 53 8. The Genesis of Starcher Hall. ....... .................. .......................... ....68 9. The Centennial Decade ............................... ............. .. ......... ...... 81 10. Closing-Out the Twentieth Century .. ................................ ......... ..... 95 11. Into A New Millennium ................ ......................... ................... 108 Epilogue ........................... ..................................... ............................ 11 9 Acknowledgments .......... ...................................................................... 120 Appendices I. UND's Biology Faculty, 1884-2008 ............................................... 121 2. Faculty Honors, Awards and Lectures ............... ..... ..... ................... 183 3. Student Awards and Scholarships ................................... .. ........ .... 192 4. Biology Staff, 1961-2008 ............. .. .......... ..................................207 5. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant .. .. .................. ......... ........... 217 6. Biology Curricula Since 1884 .................... ............... ... .... .. ........... 220 7. Biology Faculty Publications, 1889-2008 .. .......................... ... .........232 11 FOREWORD In the 125th anniversary of the founding of the University of North Dakota, all departments and programs were asked to provide histories. A similar request was made in 1983 for the institution's centennial observance, thus for most entities, the current effort only required a quarter century of updating. For the Department of Biology however, fulfilling the request was daunting. Paul B. Kannowski, Department Chair at the time of the centennial, produced a penultimate draft, requiring only minor corrections and final editing. That manuscript remained unfinished, but survived with damage the flood of 1997. When past and current colleagues urged me to compile a history for the 125th, I asked Kannowski about the possibility of a co-authored version. After assessing the situation, he believed it would not work, and "make the whole effort look like some indescribable animal." I respect his opinion and have proceeded to write my own version, but made the better by his valued contributions of materials and memories. It is not within the scope of this history to present extensive non-biological material. Anyone seeking to know UND's history through its first 75 years, is referred to University of the Northern Plains, a detailed account by Louis Geiger (1958). A Century on the Northern Plains is a multi-authored book of six essays edited by Robert Wilkins (1983). This publication is especially rich in pictures. North Dakota, Heal Thyself by John Vennes and Patrick McGuire (2005) is a history of the Medical School, but it acknowledges Melvin Brannon's important biomedical contributions during his 20 years as Professor of Biology. Lastly, for a comprehensive view of the state's past, History of North Dakota by Elwyn B. Robinson (1966) is a recommended treatise. There are two obvious ways of presenting Biology's history: 1) by sections chronologically devoted to topics (i.e., faculty, students, curriculum, facilities, etc.) and augmented with appropriate appendices; and 2) an integration of topics through time to produce a flowing story, also bolstered by appendices. Kannowski chose the former approach, I the latter, although Chapters 2 and 8 are clearly topical. From the mid-l 960s to the present, the narrative tends to resemble a journal. That however, is the result of having been a faculty member involved in the daily life of the Department for more than 30 years. In late August 2008, Kannowski donated his manuscript and numerous files of supporting data to the University's Department of Special Collections. That deposit contains an extraordinary amount of specific information from Biology's first century, but some topics have not received similar detail from me. Conversely however, student/faculty awards and Department staff are given extensive coverage in my version. The inclusion of pictures, blueprints, and other historical memorabilia is intended to provide illustrative support to the narrative. With five acknowledged exceptions, all pictures are from Special Collections, UND publications, the Biology Department's files, or my own personal holdings. One of the striking impressions gained in recounting the University's founding was the unbridled optimism and enthusiasm of that time. The late 1870s and early 1880s were "heady" years, the Great Dakota Boom. Wheat was king and the economy was strong, huge bonanza farms had emerged even as homesteaders were claiming their 160 lll acre parcels, and the railroads were penetrating the prairie landscape. Statehood could Chapter J only be a few years away. ln the autumn that the cornerstone was laid for the Uruversity's first building, Teddy Roosevelt was hunting in the North Dakota Badlands IN T HE BEG IN ING and the_Marquis de Mores was founding the town of Medora and its ambitious mea; processmg plant. On both sides ~[ the _Red River, small towns were being born, several Six years before the United States Congress authorized the division of Dakota of which also celebrated their 125 anrnversary in 2008, including Carrington, Sheyenne, Territory into two states, an important event occurred in the Red River Valley. Nearl y New Rockford, M1ch'.~an, Mi~to, Lakota, Hallock,_and Halstad. Against this backdrop of two miles west of the boom town of Grand Forks, a 20-acre parcel of barren prairie was progressiveness and can do atlltude, a new umversity arose with biological courses the chosen site for the future campus of the University of North Dakota. The land , with from the very first day the school opened its doors in 1884. What occurred then, and the English Coulee running through it, was donated by William "Billy" Budge, a local subsequently, 1s my attempt to present_Biology's history over the past one and a quarter real estate developer. Although the site seemed more remote than necessary, its location century. Errors of om1ss1on and comm1ss1on are solely mine. next to the railroad tracks was important in an era before automobiles. The only other route to the site was a graded gravel road, known today as University Avenue. 31 May, 2009 Omer R. Larson Grand Forks, North Dakota Professor Emeritus October 2, 1883, was a cool but sunny autumn day filled with sati sfacti on and ceremony. A $30,000 territorial bond had been secured for the first uni versity building, and now a cornerstone was to be laid for the partially completed basement and foundation. In addition to Territorial Governor Nehemiah Ordway and a small group of dignitaries who spoke, the gathering included numerous local citizens who came by buggies and carriages, or simply on foot. A 17-piece band and an unknown number of other individuals rode a special train from Grand Forks to the site. James Twamley, a member of the first Board of Regents, was on the building committee. Plans called for a three-story structure, 150 x 5 1 feet, with a "high" basement. Facilities within the building, known as "Main," included offices, classrooms, laboratories, library, museum, chapel, apartments, and in the basement, a kitchen and dining area. Main was in essence a self-contai ned community on the prairie, and the largest building in the northern half of the Dakota Territory. Although the time line was tight, the Regents managed to open UND to classes in the fall of 1884, even though some finishing work remained undone. In addition to Merrifield, the initial faculty of four included Henry Montgomery, professor of natural sciences. He, and all subsequent biology faculty members are