Zoology

1874-1914
- The brief facts and figures below will help set the tone for what follows concerning the academic program at Southern (first known as Southern Illinois Normal College -- SINC).
  
  In the 1870s, tuition was $4-10/term and there were three terms each year. A two-year program was offered in teacher education. Room and board was $2.50-5.00/week. In 1904, a four-year program in teacher education was also available. By 1914, the tuition, room, and board figures were still approximately the same. The Bulletin for 1914 indicated that if students were careful, they could pay their tuition and living expenses for about $100 for the school year.
  
  It is interesting to compare these figures with what it costs today! The first science building for the campus was authorized by the Legislature in 1895 and completed in 1896. The total cost for the building, which included a museum, was $40,000! The renovation completed in 2004 exceeded $10 million.
  
  Given the charter of the institution, the original emphasis was on teacher training. The early curricula included a course in natural philosophy, involving some aspects of life sciences. As the following quote from the 1898 Bulletin illustrated, there was an emphasis on basic external and internal structure of organisms. "...each pupil upon entering the class will be assigned a seat and drawer at one of the laboratory tables. The notes and drawings are to be made in the room from the object studied and not from some book, and are to be kept in the drawer assigned, at the close of the work..."
  
  By 1914, there was an expanded curriculum for biology. The zoology portion of that curriculum involved offerings in introductory biology, invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, physiology, entomology, ornithology, apiculture, comparative embryology, a course for preparing teachers of elementary school students, and bacteriology. It is noteworthy that the foundation of the zoology curriculum today still involves fundamental courses in vertebrate and invertebrate zoology. In addition, several of the other offerings from 1914 continue today as part of the course offerings.
  
  Cyrus Thomas was the first instructor in the area of life sciences -- he was appointed in 1874 as Professor of Natural History and Physiology and as Curator of the Museum. Thomas served until 1879, although he devoted little time to the school once he was also appointed Illinois State Entomologist in 1875. He was joined in 1877 by George Hazen French who soon was the only biologist on the faculty for the next three decades. Professor French succeeded Cyrus Thomas as the Professor of Natural History and Physiology and was responsible, as Curator of the Museum, for major additions to the collections.
  
  As an aside, Zoology still has some of the herptile, bird, and mammal specimens that were part of that original museum collection -- they are used, even today, for teaching as well as research. The original campus building was destroyed by fire in 1883 and was replaced by a second Main Building in 1887. By 1896, there was also the new Science Building located immediately west of the Main Building. John P. Gilbert, an 1896 graduate of SINC, joined the faculty in 1910 to teach both biology and agriculture, the latter subject having been added to the curriculum in the early part of the century.
  
  The first women to serve on the faculty in the life sciences were Isabel Clegg and Mary M. Steagall, who joined the Department in 1913. In that year, the life science program (which for three years had been called the Department of Biology and Agriculture) split into the Department of Biology and the Department of Agriculture. Dr. Steagall served as Head of the Department of Biology beginning in 1921 (it became the Department of Zoology in 1926 when the Botany and Health Education programs became independent); she continued as Head of the Department of Zoology until she retired in 1938.
1915-1940
- Here are some glimpses of the life sciences for the 25-year period from 1915 through 1940 at Southern Illinois Normal College (now known as SIUC), with an emphasis on changes in the curriculum and the faculty who served the department.
  
  The story of the life science curriculum in this period was generally one of refinement and specialization. In 1913, agriculture became an independent program; John Gilbert remained as Head of the Department of Biology. In Fall 1915, there were three biology faculty (George French, John Gilbert, and Mary Steagall). A total of 14 courses were listed for the department; five of these were of the general or introductory nature and nine were more specialized. The specialized courses included physiology, entomology, ornithology, apiculture, embryology, bacteriology, and four courses in advanced botany. In 1920, a course was added on natural history; although, for decades, it was ably covered within the courses taught by George Hazen French. Many of these offerings remain as part of our current curriculum, although the content has greatly expanded. The course offerings of the 1920s included subject matter that is now covered in four separate departments at SIUC: Microbiology, Physiology, Plant Biology, and Zoology. We should note that the primary purpose of the school was the preparation of teachers for the primary and secondary schools of the region and state. Thus, the focus of the curriculum and the content of individual courses were designed to prepare people to teach the subject matter. In 1943, the name was changed to Southern Illinois Normal University (and four years later to Southern Illinois University). Generally, it was not until after World War II that the purpose of the university expanded and advanced degree programs were added.
  
  One of the pivotal events for what we now know as the Department of Zoology occurred in 1926 when the life science curriculum and administration were split into three departments, Botany, Physiology and Health Education, and Zoology. The 1920s became a period of expansion in the number of faculty and course offerings. In 1920, all of the biology curriculum involved 15 courses, but by 1929 there were 32 different courses offered across the three departments, with 16 of those in zoology. The Department of Zoology faculty for 1929 consisted of three individuals, all women. Most notable of these was Mary Minerva Steagall. She had received her doctorate from the University of Chicago and joined the faculty at Southern in 1908. Mary Steagall was a remarkably versatile person; she taught Latin and mathematics in addition to her duties in zoology, which included a long stint as department head (1921-1938). The other faculty in zoology by the late 1920s were Hilda A. Stein, who would remain on the faculty for 33 years, and Martha H. Scott, who had obtained her M. S. degree from the University of Chicago and who served Botany as well as Zoology with her teaching skills.
  
  By 1932, the curriculum in zoology had expanded to 19 courses. Among the additions were two that are noteworthy. The first was a course in economic zoology; this was the forerunner of what became our fisheries and wildlife biology laboratories in the 1950s. The course focused on practical issues in the southern Illinois region, but also included field trips to zoological parks. A course on the history of biology used what was then a relatively new book on the subject by Erik Nordenskiold. No scholar has been able to write a comparable history in the past 60 years and thus the History of Biology remains the text of choice for courses on the background of our discipline. As the end of the decade approached, the Department of Zoology curriculum contained 22 courses. New additions during the 1930s involved offerings in animal ecology, parasitology, and advanced courses in histology and ornithology. These latter two subdisciplines were obviously of sufficient interest to students to provide the basis for establishing advanced courses on a regular basis. The retirement of Mary Steagall in 1938 left the department with a faculty consisting of Hilda Stein, Martha Scott (who was part-time in Zoology), and Willard Gersbacher. Dr. Gersbacher had obtained his bachelor's degree from SINC, taught in the 1929-1930 school year for the Botany Department, then went to the University of Illinois to earn a doctoral degree. He returned to Southern in 1936 to join the Department of Zoology and in 1938 became department head. Zoology undergraduate students served as lab instructors in the basic courses.
  
  In a 2002 letter to Zoology, Dorothy Lill Larson (B.Ed, SINU, 1942; M.S., U. Wisconsin, 1945; M.D., U. Illinois Chicago, 1949) fondly remembered being Miss Stein's lab teaching assistant for two years, earning $10 per quarter; the pay helped offset her $17.50 college registration expense for the quarter -- which covered tuition, book rental, and activity fee. She further recalled, "...Zoology had three rooms on the first floor [of the Science Building] and one room on the third floor where genetics and histology classes were held. On the first floor, the center room was where most lectures were given and where the Zoology seminar met every 2 weeks. Dr. Gersbacher and Miss Scott each had a small closet-like office. Miss Stein's 'office' was a desk in the lab used for field biology." In those days, the entire, small, well-kept campus of Southern consisted of Old Main surrounded by seven other buildings -- Anthony Hall, the Gymnasium, Wheeler Library, Science, and three buildings named after early campus presidents, i.e., Shryock, Allyn, and Parkinson.
1940s
- The decade of the 1940s saw many changes with regard to both the curriculum and the faculty. Willard Gersbacher was Head of the Department of Zoology; the other faculty were Hilda Stein and Martha Scott. By the end of the decade, some of the framework that is still noticeable in our current department was in place. Throughout this period, the main location for the department was on the first floor of the Science Building (later renamed Altgeld Hall). The Museum with its many specimens representing natural history diversity and used extensively in teaching some of the department's course offerings also was located in the Science Building. The name of SINC was changed to Southern Illinois Normal University in 1943; four years later, it was changed again to Southern Illinois University (SIU). During this decade, approval was granted to begin offering master's degrees. In 1947, Zoology was first in the life sciences to obtain approval for a Master's program; the same year Charles Foote and his wife Florence joined the Department, initiating study in endocrinology and strengthening the program in embryology and histology.
  
  The Zoology curriculum consisted of 17 courses at the outset of the decade. These included material on vertebrates and invertebrates; involved laboratory work in genetics, embryology, anatomy, and histology; and encompassed courses involving a component of field work in ornithology, entomology, and ecology, and a course specifically for field techniques. The course offerings remained pretty much the same until just after the middle of the decade. For the 1946-47 year, a new course in limnology was added, with particular reference to Crab Orchard Lake and many other bodies of water in southern Illinois. Another new course was initiated with specific emphasis on research, providing the first opportunity for students to obtain credit for participation in scholarly endeavors. In 1947-48, two more courses were added. One of these dealt with animal geography and the other was a course for readings in the current literature. Five new courses were added the next year: protozoology, endocrinology, experimental zoology, and lower level and advanced animal ecology (two courses). Two years later at the close of the decade, six more courses were added in the areas of mammalogy, fish management, ichthyology, game management, advanced game management, and game birds. Thus, over the course of the decade, the course offerings in the Department of Zoology expanded from 17 to 34 in number.
  
  The change in the curriculum reflected a shift in the overall mission of the university. The original and long standing tradition of producing teachers continued but added to this were degrees in liberal arts. It was possible to obtain a bachelor's degree with emphasis in zoology, either through the College of Education or the College of Liberal Arts. Also, the addition of advanced-level courses in some areas of zoology and the opportunity to do research signaled the addition of graduate education.
  
  During the late 1940s, the faculty increased dramatically, more than doubling in size within a few years. The decade began with Dr. Gersbacher as Head of the Department and a faculty consisting of Hilda Stein and Martha Scott. By the end of the decade, Drs. Charles and Florence Foote, as well as Drs. Willard Klimstra and William Lewis, had joined the faculty ranks. These four individuals brought new talents and played key roles in the expansion of the department's curriculum. The arrivals of Drs. Klimstra and Lewis were key components in the establishment of the Cooperative Research Laboratories in Wildlife and Fisheries, respectively. Both laboratories remain active and productive today.
1950s
- The multifaceted changes that exemplified the 1940s continued during the ensuing decade for our Department of Zoology. President Delyte Morris joined the university in 1949 and an unprecedented expansion was launched. During the 1950s, the university increased in size from an enrollment of about 5,000 at the start of the decade to more than 13,000 by 1959. Today there are just over 21,000 students enrolled at SIUC.
  
  The 1940s ended with the Zoology Department having 7 faculty and offering 26 courses. The seven faculty included Willard Gersbacher (Head), Charles Foote, Florence Foote, Hilda Stein, and Joseph Rafalko. Iowa State University graduates Willard Klimstra and William Lewis arrived in 1949 and during the early 1950s, they launched the research laboratories in wildlife and fisheries. Eight courses were added to the curriculum, including Introductory Game Management, Introductory Fish Management, and advanced courses in these same areas. The other four new courses related to this new emphasis were Game Birds, Mammalogy, and Ichthyology.
  
  The starting point for the study of zoology in the 1950s was a pair of courses, one on Vertebrate Diversity and the other on Invertebrate Diversity. Diversity in the animal world has always been a major focus in our department. These same two courses form the foundation for students wishing to major in zoology today. We recently have added a year-long introductory course in biology; this endeavor involves faculty from four departments in the life sciences. However, the importance of understanding animal diversity actually has increased in recent years because of the ongoing efforts for conserving the organisms with which we share the planet. Thus, the Department of Zoology has continued to provide both good teachers of biology and good scholars who are contributing to areas like biodiversity and conservation.
  
  The mid-1950s brought additional faculty and a further enlargement of the curriculum. Harvey Fisher joined the Department as Chair in 1955. Edna Dudgeon and Howard Stains also came to SIU in 1955. In 1956, the group was joined by John Downey, Richard Fredrickson, and George Garoian. The tenure-track faculty now numbered 11, and there were 42 courses offered. Among the additional new offerings added by mid-decade were classes in Advanced Entomology, Natural History of the Vertebrates, Natural History of the Invertebrates, Advanced Ornithology, Evolution, and Herpetology.
  
  The expansion continued during the final portion of the 1950s. Edwin Galbreath joined the Department of Zoology in 1957, and Richard Blackwelder and Richard Kudo arrived in 1958. New courses were added, including Conservation Biology, Insect Pests and Their Control, Vertebrate Paleontology, Game Mammals, and Fish Culture. With the exception of Vertebrate Paleontology, all of the courses added during the 1950s remain a part of the curriculum today. One additional course that was instituted during the latter part of the decade is still an important feature of the graduate program today: Teaching Zoology in College. Having our new graduate students learn about methods and approaches to teaching helps them both in the classroom as teaching assistants and, for many, as teachers later in their careers.
  
  For many decades, the Department of Zoology was housed in the Science Building, though some faculty were, on occasion, housed in other locations. In 1950, the Board of Trustees authorized construction of a Life Science Building (now called Lindegren Hall). By 1952, the Department of Zoology, and several other life science departments, were housed in the new building. The Department of Zoology remained in that building (Lindegren Hall) for almost exactly 20 years before moving to its current home in Life Science II. A final note regarding expansion during the 1950s involves the department budget. In 1949-50, the annual allocation for the Department of Zoology totaled $42,500. With the additional faculty and courses added during the decade, this figure had risen to $116,000 by 1959-60. There also was a significant increase in the budgets for the Cooperative Fisheries and Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratories, from $2,800 in state funds in 1949-50 to $60,700 for 1959-60.
1960s
- This article considers history of zoology at Southern in the 1960s -- an eventful decade that saw the full glory of leadership under President Delyte W. Morris and ended with a disruptive minority of students and act of arson on Old Main. As the decade began, Southern Illinois University was increasingly known, nationally and internationally, as a university on the move. Enrollment was just over 12,000. By 1964, SIU was the 21st largest in the United States with more than 20,000 students and faculty in excess of 1,000; by that time, there was a campus in Edwardsville as well as Carbondale. Graduate programs blossomed. The doctoral program in Zoology (approved in 1958) and those in a handful of other departments were joined by 14 additional doctoral programs in the early 1960s.
  
  In Fall 1960, the Department of Zoology (chaired by Harvey Fisher) included Hilda Stein, Willard Gersbacher, Charles Foote, William Lewis, Willard Klimstra, Howard Stains, John Downey, George Garoian, Edwin Galbreath, Richard Kudo, Richard Blackwelder, Everett Wilson, and John Crenshaw, Jr. There were 49 departmental courses. The program was housed in the Life Science building, now known as Lindegren Hall, as well as in some so-called temporary buildings, such as the nearby green barracks. During summer sessions in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Zoology often hired visiting professors to teach their specialties, such as limnologist Heinz Loffler (Univ. Vienna), mammalogist Lendell Cockrum (Univ. Arizona), and animal behaviorists Ed Banks (Univ. Illinois). With the implementation of the General Studies program at SIU, the Zoology faculty participated in GSA201 (Introductory Biology). The departmental curriculum saw revisions. Some courses were dropped or revised. Others were added, including Animal Taxonomy, Freshwater Invertebrates, Developmental Biology, Helminthology, Cytology, Osteology, Population Ecology, Population Genetics, and Animal Behavior, plus advanced courses in invertebrates, entomology, limnology, and systematics. By Fall 1969, a total of 59 zoology courses were listed. Graduate students and their faculty advisors actively pursued research in such areas as fisheries and wildlife biology, ecology, limnology, parasitology, genetics, embryology and development, reproductive physiology, animal behavior, vertebrate paleontology, herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, entomology, and systematics. Graduates were known for their well-rounded education in all aspects of zoology. The University's location near abundant forest, wildlife, and fisheries resources added to the educational and research opportunities available to students, as did the Pine Hills Field Station headed by John Parsons.
  
  By the end of the decade, SIU's enrollment exceeded 35,000 -- SIUC contributed 23,000 to the total. Plans were underway for a medical school and law program. At SIUC, the Life Science II building was dedicated and soon occupied by Zoology, Microbiology, Physiology, Botany, and Psychology. The Zoology faculty saw considerable change in the 1960s, including retirements and expansion positions. By late 1969, the faculty consisted of William Lewis, Willard Klimstra, Howard Stains, George Garoian, Edwin Galbreath, Richard Blackwelder, Herman Haas, DuWayne Englert, Ronald Brandon, William George, Jan Martan, Joseph Beatty, Eugene LeFebvre, George Waring, John Stahl, John Krull, Bruce Petersen, Benjamin Shepherd, William Dyer, and J. E. McPherson; Dr. Fisher remained at the helm. During the 1960s, Zoology graduate students completed 17 Ph.D. dissertations, 89 Master's theses, and 17 Master's research papers.
  
  The national phenomena of student unrest and dissension began to appear at SIU in the late 1960s. Sit-ins and other protests began to occur on campus over such issues as women's hours, alleged discrimination, and the Vietnam War. People in authority and institutions became targets of the discord. On Sunday, June 8, 1969, fire destroyed the Old Main building on the SIUC campus. Eleven months later, under continued strife, Chancellor Robert MacVicar announced the University was closing indefinitely. But, it did not close for long. Recovery steadily and successfully occurred in the 1970s.
1970s
- The decade of the 1970s began with more protests about the Vietnam War and other issues that marked the end of the '60s. In spring 1970, SIUC was under the leadership of Chancellor Robert MacVicar. On 12 May, following more student disruption, Dr. MacVicar announced the University was closed indefinitely! Fourteen weeks later, the Board of Trustees announced Delyte Morris had been given status of President Emeritus. Thus, a proud era had ended amid the chaos of unrest throughout the nation.
  
  In fall 1970, classes resumed and the newly finished Life Science II building was occupied by Zoology, Botany, Microbiology, Psychology, and the Cooperative Fisheries Research Laboratory (the Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab moved to LS II several years later). Relinquished were old office quarters in the aged barracks, in various renovated houses, and in LS I (now Lindegren Hall). In autumn 1970, Zoology had 23 tenure-track faculty (headed by Harvey Fisher) with more than 60 courses listed in its graduate and undergraduate program. As the decade progressed, changes occurred in some courses and personnel. Faculty that were added included Roy Heidinger, Terence Anthoney, Anthony Paparo, Mark Ellinger, Brooks Burr, David King, and Alan Woolf. Faculty that departed included John Krull, Harvey Fisher, Herman Haas, and Richard Blackwelder. Samuel Jewel, Douglas Scott, James Hardin, and Donald Sparling were with the Department briefly during the '70s. George Garoian became Department Chair in 1971. During his tenure as Chair, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences divided, subsequently placing Zoology in the College of Science with Elbert Hadley as Dean (followed soon by John Guyon, James BeMiller, and Norman Doorenbos). Changes were occurring throughout campus; most noticeable were the construction of Faner Hall, beginnings of the School of Medicine and School of Law, and frequent changes in SIU administrative positions. In Zoology, William Lewis became Chair in 1973 and remained in that capacity until summer 1979 when Ronald Brandon took the helm.
  
  In the eight quarters preceding Fall 1970, Zoology generated 11,698 student credit hours in departmental courses and contributed an additional estimated 40,000 student credit hours in the General Studies program. Throughout the '70s, Zoology continued its strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching including its contributions to the University's general education program as well as the interdisciplinary Biological Sciences program. In 1970, there were 99 graduate students active in the Zoology program; they came from 70 different universities, 28 different states, and 3 countries. In the mid-1970s, the University eliminated the Pine Hills Field Station; another change was a shift in the academic calendar from the quarter system to the semester system. To meet the requirement that net hours not be increased, the shift to semesters required Zoology to scale down many courses, especially those with labs.
  
  At decade's end, SIU had 33,170 students (22,695 enrolled at SIUC and 10,475 at SIUE). In Fall 1979, Zoology had about 90 graduate students and 270 undergraduate majors (having passed a peak of 300 in 1978). During the 1970s, the Department graduated hundreds with Bachelor's degrees, 186 with Master's (83 with research paper and 103 with thesis), and 35 with Ph.D. degrees. In Fall 1979, departmental faculty consisted of Willard Klimstra, William Lewis, George Garoian, Edwin Galbreath, Howard Stains, Ronald Brandon, DuWayne Englert, William George, Jan Martan, Joseph Beatty, Eugene LeFebvre, George Waring, John Stahl, Bruce Peterson, William Dyer, J. E. McPherson, Benjamin Shepherd, Roy Heidinger, Terence Anthoney, Brooks Burr, David King, and Mark Ellinger. Herman J. Haas was stricken with cancer and passed away in 1976.
  
  New courses that were added to the Zoology program in the 1970s included Research Methods in Animal Behavior, Concepts in Animal Behavior, Cell Biology of Development, Ecology of Surface Mining, Techniques in Fish Culture and Fish Management, and Aquatic Entomology. The course called Game Birds was divided, forming Waterfowl and Upland Game Birds. Courses dropped from the program during the '70s included Tropical Ecology, Biological Statistics, Genetic Methods, and two courses formerly taught by Herman Haas ("Teleology and Optimality in Biological Systems" and "Emergence of Order in Biological Systems").
1980s
- The decade of the 1980s saw changes, especially in personnel and in the course offerings of the Department of Zoology. Continually striving to upgrade, the Department experienced a slight increase in total faculty by decade's end. Throughout the 1980s, the entire Zoology program was housed in the Life Science II Building, occupying the entire third floor plus part of the first, second, and fourth floors.
  
  At the start of the decade, Albert Somit was President of SIUC and Norman Doorenbos was Dean of the College of Science (COS). John Guyon, Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research (and former COS Dean), appointed John Jackson as Acting Dean of the Graduate School. In Zoology, David Green became Storekeeper to fill the void left by the retirement of Dwight Throgmorton. Ronald Brandon was DEO (= Chair) as the decade began and remained in that position until 1987, when Lee Drickamer joined the Department to assume responsibility as Chair under then COS Dean Russell Dutcher.
  
  During the 1980s, SIUC enrollment climbed from 22,700 to 24,000. The undergraduate General Studies Program was revised and given the title General Education Program. Zoology continued to teach some of the GE courses. Enrollment in the Department's undergraduate and graduate programs remained relatively steady year by year with approximately 260 undergraduate majors plus about 80 graduate students. During the '80s, Zoology graduated hundreds of students with a Bachelor's degree, 143 with a Master's (20 with research paper and 123 with thesis), plus 40 PhD students. Zoology faculty members also were actively involved in the interdisciplinary Biological Sciences undergraduate and graduate programs.
  
  Added to the Zoology curriculum during the 1980s were Internship, Systematic Zoology, Wildlife Administration and Policy, Honors Research, Stream Ecology, Wildlife Diseases, Environmental Physiology of Fishes, Fish Stock Assessment, Advanced Fisheries Management, Advanced Fish Culture, plus Research Paper (for the non-thesis Master's option). Human Heredity and Evolutionary Biology were officially designated Zoology courses, having been formerly in the General Studies Program. Helminthology and Game Mammals (formerly available only to graduate students) were made available to upper-level undergraduates. Courses dropped from the curriculum were Work Experience, Biology of Human Populations, Concepts of Animal Behavior, Vertebrate Paleontology, Osteology, Advanced Taxonomy, and Zoological Literature. By the end of the decade, the doctoral preliminary examination was reorganized to focus on the specialty of each student rather than emphasize general zoological knowledge.
  
  During the '80s, faculty that retired were William Lewis, Willard Klimstra, Edwin Galbreath, Jan Martan, and George Garoian. Departing faculty also included Bruce Peterson, Mark Ellinger, David Joyner, Anthony Paparo, Howard Stains, and Robert Stickney. Subsequently, additions were made to the faculty. Three long-term members of the faculty died during the decade: Hilda A. Stein, who retired from the department in 1962, died just a few days past her 90th birthday in 1985. Willard M. Gersbacher, who retired from SIU in 1966 (then from SEMO in 1972), resided in Cape Girardeau until his death in 1989; at SIU, he was Department Head from 1938-1955. The third was vertebrate paleontologist Edwin C. Galbreath.
  
  In Fall 1989, the departmental faculty consisted of Terence Anthoney, Joseph Beatty, Ronald Brandon, Brooks Burr, Lee Drickamer, William Dyer, DuWayne Englert, George Feldhamer, William George, Roy Heidinger, David King, Christopher Kohler, Eugene LeFebvre, Michael McKee, J. E. McPherson, William Muhlach, Ann Phillipi, Daniel Roby, James Seeb, Robert Sheehan, Benjamin Shepherd, John Stahl, Thomas Tacha, George Waring, and Alan Woolf.
1990s
- The decade of the 1990s began with chemist John Guyon (former Dean of the College of Science) as President of SIUC, zoologist Ben Shepherd as Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Research, botanist John Yopp as Dean of the Graduate School, and geologist Russell Dutcher as Dean of the College of Science. Undergraduate enrollment was just over 20,000 and graduate enrollment was approximately 3,600. Lawrence Pettit was Chancellor of the SIU Central Administration. Yet, soon the titles switched; the head of the SIU Central Administration became known as President, and each campus was subsequently led by a Chancellor. In the Department of Zoology, the position of Chair shifted from Lee Drickamer to Roy Heidinger in 1991 and then to William Muhlach in 1994. Jack Parker became Dean of the College of Science by 1994.
  
  At the onset of the decade, Zoology listed 77 courses in the Bulletin. The number increased to over 90 by the end of the decade. Changes included splitting Wildlife Biology into two courses (Wildlife Biology Principles and Wildlife Techniques) and adding new classes, such as, Wildlife Toxicology, Wildlife Habitat Analysis, Curation of Biological Collections, Computer Techniques in Systematic Biology, Developmental Gene Regulation, and Molecular Genetics Techniques.
  
  During the '90s, undergraduate Zoology majors fluctuated from 200-260, slightly less than that of Biological Sciences. Graduate enrollment in Zoology exceeded 100 a few years in the mid-'90s. And the Department took pride in having graduated over 600 with Master's degrees and over 115 with PhD degrees. The first Master's degrees were awarded in 1949 and the first PhDs in 1964.
  
  The number of teaching faculty hovered around two dozen throughout the '90s. The faculty who retired included Ronald Brandon, DuWayne Englert, Roy Heidinger, and Eugene LeFebvre. Faculty who departed for other opportunities included Neil Billington, Lee Drickamer, Robert Gates, Walter Jakubas, Michael McKee, Jonathan Newman, Ann Phillippi, Daniel Roby, and James Seeb. New faculty were added to the roster. The Department was sad to learn of the deaths of former faculty -- Harvey I. Fisher, William G. George, Willard D. Klimstra, Jan Martan, and Thomas Tacha.
  
  Although most of the Department remained in Life Science II, during the '90s the newly constructed Life Science III became office and research space for some of the departmental faculty. This supplementary building also provided space for the SIUC Ichthyology and Herpetology Collections.
  
  As the decade ended, the Zoology faculty included William Muhlach (Chair), Frank Anderson, Terence Anthoney, Joseph Beatty, Thomas Breen, Brooks Burr, Bruce Dugger, William Dyer, George Feldhamer, Richard Halbrook, Edward Heist, David King, Christopher Kohler, Carey Krajewski, Karen Lips, J. E. McPherson, Matthew Nicholson, Robert Sheehan, Benjamin Shepherd, John Stahl, George Waring, and Alan Woolf.
2000s
- Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, the Department of Zoology program was housed in the Life Science II and Life Science III buildings. The total number of faculty remained near two dozen and student numbers remained relatively constant (about 250 undergraduates and 90 graduate students). Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) enrollment stayed near 21,000. Yet, during the decade there were noticeable changes within Zoology in personnel, course offerings, and research emphasis.
  
  At the start of the decade, Ted Saunders was President of the SIU System. At SIUC, John Jackson was Interim Chancellor, Margaret Winters was Interim Provost, John Koropchak was Interim Dean of the Graduate School, and Jack Parker was Dean of the College of Science. As the decade proceeded, Glen Pochard became President of the SIU System. By decade's end at SIUC, Samuel Goldman was Chancellor, Don Rice was Interim Provost, John Koropchak was Graduate School Dean, and Jay Means was Dean of the College of Science. William Muhlach became Chair of Zoology in 1994 and remained in that position throughout the decade of 2000.
  
  Faculty who retired during the decade included Joseph Beatty, John Stahl, Benjamin Shepherd, Terence Anthoney, William Dyer, George Waring, and Christopher Kohler. Faculty who left for other opportunities included Thomas Breen, Matthew Nicholson, Robert Neuman, Frank Wilhelm, Anita Kelly, Karen Lips, and Michael Sears. And during the decade, the Department mourned the deaths of former faculty -- Florence Foote, Richard Blackwelder, Howard Stains, Robert Sheehan, Alan Woolf, George Garoian, and William Dyer.
  
  Especially because of new hires, departmental research and course offerings expanded in the areas of fisheries, wildlife biology, toxicology, evolutionary biology, quantitative ecology, population biology, and molecular biology. And, coincident with retirements, research and course offerings diminished in natural history, vertebrate biology, parasitology, and animal behavior. For example, during academic year '01-'02, thirty-seven different classroom courses were taught by Zoology staff at the 100-499 level; by contrast, in the academic year '08-'09, twenty-seven different classroom courses were taught. During each of those years at the 500-level in Zoology, students had a choice of ten additional classroom courses.
  
  At the end of the decade, the Zoology faculty included William Muhlach (Chair), Frank Anderson, Marjorie Brooks, Brooks Burr, Michael Eichholz, George Feldhamer, James Garvey, Richard Halbrook, Ed Heist, Eric Hellgren, Kamal Ibrahim, Agustín Jiménez-Ruiz, David King, Carey Krajewski, James Lovvorn, Michael Lydy, J. E. McPherson, John Reeve, Eric Schauber, Donald Sparling, Richard Thomas, Jesse Trushenski, Matt Whiles, and Greg Whitledge.