Arlan Lee EDGAR
Birthdate: 3 June 1926
Birthplace: Gratiot County, Michigan, USA
Nationality: American
Died: December 22, 2007 in Alma, Michigan.
Biography:
Dr.
Arlan Lee Edgar is remembered for a distinguished career that focused
on teaching, research and encouraging students to participate in scholarly
activities. Arlan Edgar came to Alma College in 1946 from Ithaca,
Michigan. Graduating from Alma in 1949, he joined the faculty of the biology
department, and except for a period of military service, he continued
that teaching career until his retirement in 1986. He taught at Alma College
for 35 years with a two-year break for military service. He began his
teaching career at Alma the year after he graduated from the College and
retired in 1985. By his own estimates, he taught 900 biology majors. During
that time he worked closely with more than 100 students on independent
research projects in addition to the thousands of students he taught in
biology courses. A strong advocate of student research, Dr. Edgar secured
numerous National Science Foundation Undergraduate Participation Grants
and helped students publish their findings in regional and national journals.
Upon his retirement, the College established the Edgar Biology Endowment
for Student Research in the biology department. Through his research and
publications he was recognized as a world expert on the arthropod group
Opiliones. He was involved for almost 20 years with the University of
Michigan Biological Station at Douglas Lake, first as a student and then
teaching the natural history of invertebrates. He claimed that his greatest
honor came in the form of unsolicited comments from former students acknowledging
the positive impact he had on their lives and careers. One of his most
popular courses took students to Jamaica during Spring Term studying marine
invertebrates and constructing water and sanitary systems for the villages
where they stayed. Dr. Edgar was recognized in 1973 with the Michigan
Academy of Science, Arts and Letters Citation for Scholarly Achievement.
He was Alma's Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences Division
in 1981 and received the College's Barlow Award for Faculty Excellence
in 1985. Besides his degree from Alma, Dr. Edgar earned master of arts,
master of science and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan.
He was a member of American Institute of Biological Sciences, American
Microscopical Society, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, North American
Benthological Society, and the Midwest Developmental Biology Society.
Edgar was a charter member of the American Arachnological Society. In
1968, he served as chair of the Zoology Section of the Michigan Academy
of Science, Arts and Letters. He was a past treasurer, secretary, vice
president and president of the Central Michigan Club of Sigma Xi. In 1967
as a member of Beta Beta Beta, he was the association editor of the northeast
region of Bios, the organization's journal. Edgar was elected secretary
of the Ecology Division of the American Society of Zoologists for 1976-78.
