University of Michigan
Which employer did Harrison B. Tordoff work for from 1957 to 1970?
Harrison B . Tordoff Harrison Bruce Bud Tordoff ( February 8 , 1923 – July 23 , 2008 ) was an American ornithologist and conservationist . He was brought up in Mechanicville in upstate New York , hunting and fishing , and became interested in wildlife management and zoology . He studied as an undergraduate at Cornell University , returning to complete his degree after a period of military service during World War II . He had served as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces , and his five confirmed aerial victories qualified him as a fighter ace . Tordoff completed his doctoral degree in ornithology at the University of Michigan . During his professional career , he worked as a faculty member and natural history museum curator at a number of public universities . Much of his career was spent at the University of Minnesota , where he served as director of the Bell Museum of Natural History from 1970–83 . He was active in ornithological and conservation organisations , and from 1978–80 was president of the American Ornithologists Union . Most of Tordoffs research was on the evolution of finches , and he is most remembered for his role in the reintroduction of the peregrine falcon in the upper Mississippi valley . Early life and education . Tordoff was born in Mechanicville , New York on February 8 , 1923 , the youngest and the only son among the six children of Harry and Ethel Tordoff . With his father , a stonemason , he learned to hunt and fish , and spent much of his free time observing birds and other wildlife , afield with his dog . He raised ring-necked pheasants for release , and started studying wildlife management , which he expected to be his career . He later said that shooting a black-throated blue warbler and admiring its unusual plumage sparked an interest in ornithology . In 1940 , Tordoff enrolled at Cornell University , where he found that his interest in the natural world could be pursued in a formal setting . While he was there , he met Robert M . Mengel ( his lifelong best friend , later editor of the Auk ) , who encouraged his interest in ornithology , as did one of his professors , Arthur Augustus Allen . His studies were interrupted by his military service during World War II , although he managed to complete some courses while in the military . After the war , Tordoff resumed his studies and in 1946 he graduated with a B.A . degree in zoology . In graduate school at the University of Michigan from 1947 to 1950 he studied ornithology under Josselyn Van Tyne and George Miksch Sutton , earning a Ph.D . with a thesis on the systematics of finches . Military service . In 1942 , Tordoff enlisted in the U.S . Army Air Forces , and trained as a fighter pilot . He later recounted that he naively imagined flying as thrilling , and a way to avoid ground combat . His depth perception was low by Air Force standards , so he passed his vision test by watching another pilot candidate get tested , and figuring out how the settings worked on the apparatus that was used . In 1943 he earned his wings , and joined the 352nd Fighter Squadron , 353rd Fighter Group , 8th Air Force . He flew a total of 85 missions during the war , in support of the Allied bombing of Germany , and reached the rank of captain . During his first missions , flown in a P-47 Thunderbolt he named Anne , he showed himself to have some ability and downed three Bf 109 fighters , two during the first mission in which he engaged in combat . Returning in March 1945 after a period of leave , he was assigned a new P-51D Mustang . At the time aircraft names were under heavy scrutiny due to Nazi propaganda over an American bomber named Murder Inc . He named the plane after the scientific name of the hoopoe—Upupa epops—for the names silliness . In the P-51 , he shot down two more German aircraft—including one chance strike at a Me 262 jet fighter from long distance—and those five victories qualified him as a fighter ace . Upupa Epops is now restored as close as possible to its World War II condition , as part of the Flying Heritage Collection . Scientific career . From 1950 to 1957 , Tordoff was a faculty member at the University of Kansas and a researcher at Kansas Natural History Museum . While at Kansas , he collaborated with a number of other ornithologists , including Mengel , Glen Woolfenden , and Norman A . Ford ; together , they are said to have raised standards for ornithological museum work . Tordoff edited The Wilson Bulletin , the journal of the Wilson Ornithological Society , from 1952 to 1954 . During that time , he convinced a local printer , Ayle Allen , to print the journal , and their collaboration eventually grew into Allen Press , a prominent publisher of scientific journals and books . In 1957 Tordoff moved his family back to Ann Arbor where he replaced Van Tyne as a faculty member at the University of Michigan , becoming curator of birds at the Museum of Zoology . There he advised a number of graduate students who went on to have distinguished careers , among them Frank Gill . In 1970 , he was hired by the University of Minnesota , as a professor and director of the Bell Museum of Natural History . He headed the Bell Museum until 1983 , and retired from the university in 1991 . During his time at Minnesota , he helped build the new Department of Ecology , Evolution and Behavior , and raised a large endowment for graduate work in the biological sciences . Recognized as an expert on running natural history museums , in 1978 he was hired to advise the University of Oklahoma on turning around the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History . He was a member of the American Ornithologists Union and served as its president from 1978 to 1980 . He also helped start and raise funds for the Birds of North America encyclopedia project . Tordoffs own research was largely on the systematics of cardueline finches such as crossbills , continuing from his doctoral thesis . Tordoff also collaborated with Alan Feduccia on the feather anatomy of Archaeopteryx . Conservation work . While at the University of Michigan , Tordoff worked with Harold Ford Mayfield and the Michigan Audubon Society to protect the rare Kirtlands warbler . From 1975 to 1977 , he was the first chair of the Minnesota chapter of the Nature Conservancy . Together with Carrol Henderson , he developed the non-game wildlife program at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources . As a conservationist , Tordoff was known for his ability to engage a wide public audience , including birders and sportsmen as well as academics . Tordoff was especially passionate about peregrine falcons . He said this was because of his experience as a pilot , and that his fighter was as close as a human could get to being a peregrine . Pat Redig , one of his collaborators and the founder of the Raptor Center in St . Paul , called Tordoff the heart and soul of the peregrine restoration effort . When he started his work , there were almost no breeding peregrines in the eastern United States , and the species was listed under the Endangered Species Act . As part of his work to reestablish peregrines , Tordoff raised funds for the Midwest Peregrine Restoration Project , and ringed hundreds of nestlings . As part of this project , 1286 peregrine chicks were hatched and by 2008 Tordoff and his colleagues had established a population of 128 breeding pairs and growing in the upper Mississippi region . A key part of their success arose from his idea to put peregrine nests on the top of skyscrapers in cities like Minneapolis . This not only increased the availability of nesting sites , but also drew the publics attention , since peregrines could be seen in cities and later on captured via webcams . Season after season , he tracked the success of peregrine falcons and created a large database to analyze the statistics of the growing population . During his retirement , he devoted much of his time to peregrine falcon work . Personal life . In 1946 , he married Jean Van Nostrand , and they had three children , Jeffrey ( died 2015 ) , Judith ( died 1970 ) , and James . Tordoff continued his childhood pastimes of hunting and fishing throughout his life . He kept hunting dogs , especially English setters , his companions whenever possible . In July 2008 , Tordoff died at St . Josephs Hospital in St . Paul at the age of 85 , from the effects of Alzheimers disease .