Mary Dora Rogick (October 7, 1906 – October 26, 1964) was an American

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

. In 1935 she joined the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline Order as the first Catholic women's college in ...

in New York, where she spent her career as a professor and researcher. She was a specialist in the taxonomy and ecology of

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...

, a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals.

Family life

Rogick was born in East Sandy, Pennsylvania, on October 7, 1906, to Nicholas and Sara Rogic, immigrants from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Of the Rogics' four children, only Mary survived into adulthood.

Education

Rogick went to school in

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

, then went on to earn her A.B. in 1929 and A.M. in 1930 from the

University of Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

and the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. She earned her PhD from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1934, under

Raymond C. Osburn Raymond Carroll Osburn (January 4, 1872 – August 6, 1955) was an American zoologist. Biography Osburn was born on January 4, 1872, in Newark, Ohio. In 1898, he received his bachelor's degree from the Ohio State University, and continued there, ...

. Her dissertation concerned "freshwater Bryozoa of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, doing research at the University of Ohio summer biological station at Put-in Bay, Ohio." Through her PhD work, she developed her drawing talents to such an extent that other colleagues would later ask her to provide bryozoa

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

for them. In addition, she prepared the illustrations for Dr. Osburn's book about bryozoa.

Research and teaching

In 1935, Rogick's first official position was teaching invertebrate biology at the College of New Rochelle where she remained for the rest of her life, eventually being promoted to professor. Despite her heavy teaching load and small salary, she arranged funding "from 1954 to 1961 by the National Science Foundation to study Antarctic Bryozoa." She donated her collection of books and reprints about bryozoology to the Marine Biology Laboratory at

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwestern corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 78 ...

, and they are still kept as the Rogick Collection. A collection of Rogick's classroom plans, laboratory notes, lists, and a bibliographic card index from her research on Bryozoa is archived at the Smithsonian Institution. She was diagnosed with cancer and died on October 26, 1964.

Memberships

* American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow) * Marine Biology Laboratory at

* New York Academy of Sciences * Academy of Antarctic Bryozoa *

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

Selected works

* Rogick, M. D. (1931). Studies on the comparative histology of the digestive tube of certain teleost fishes II. A minnow (Campostoma anomalum). ''Journal of Morphology'', ''52''(1), 1-25. * Rogick, M. D. (1934). Additions to North American freshwater Bryozoa. *Rogick, M. D. (1935). Studies of Freshwater Bryozoa. III, The Development of Lophopodella carteri var. typica. * Rogick, M. D. (1945). Studies on Fresh-Water Bryozoa. XVI. Fredericella australiensis var. browni, n. var. ''The Biological Bulletin'', ''89''(3), 215–228. * Rogick, M. D. (1945). Studies on marine Bryozoa. I. Aeverrillia setigera (Hincks) 1887. ''The Biological Bulletin'', ''89''(3), 201–214. * Rogick, M. D. (1956). Studies on Marine Bryozoa. VII, Hippothoa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogick, Mary Dora 1906 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American zoologists College of New Rochelle faculty Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 20th-century American women scientists American women academics Graduate Women in Science members Byrozoologists