Robert Edward Ogren (February 9, 1922 – July 13, 2005) 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 ...

Life

Ogren was born in 1922 in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

, son of David Paul and Mary Gladys (born Ahlstrom) Ogren. While in secondary school, he developed a strong interest in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and started to study microscopic biology at home.The Ogren Family Home Page
He earned a bachelor's degree in

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

in 1947 from Wheaton College and a master's degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1948. He married his wife, Jean Blose Jackson, on 28 August 1948, and their first son, Paul Robert Ogren, was born on 24 June 1949. In 1953 he received a Ph.D. degree in Zoology and

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. His doctoral thesis was entitled "Concepts of Early Tapeworm Development Derived From Comparative Embryology of Oncospheres". He began his academic career in 1953 as an assistant professor of biology at

Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a campus. Ursinus College's forerunner was the Freeland Seminary founded in 1848. Its $127 million endowment supports about 1, ...

, remaining until 1957. During this time he had his second son, Philip Edward Ogren, born in 1955. From 1957 to 1963, he worked also as an assistant professor of biology at

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

, acting as chairman of the biology department from 1959 to 1960. In 1963 he moved to Wilkes College (currently

Wilkes University Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and bec ...

) as an associate professor of biology, becoming full professor in 1981 and an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in 1986. During his tenure, he developed basic research in the development of

tapeworm Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass being Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Ce ...

hexacanth embryos. From 1980 on he also started to work on the biology of

land planarian Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms. These flatworms are mainly predators of other invertebrates, which they hunt, attack and capture using physical force and the adhesive and digestive proper ...

s. In 1987 he began a series of publications in association with Dr.

Masaharu Kawakatsu is a Japanese zoologist known for his studies on the taxonomy and ecology of planarians. Life Masaharu Kawakatsu was born in 1929 in the Asahi, Hokkaido, Asahi village, Kameoka town, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, son of Masakazu Kawakatsu, a squir ...

entitled the "Land Planarian Indices Series" where they reviewed the taxonomy of all land planarian species known at the time.Kawakatsu, M. (2008
Short reminiscences of a Turbellariologist - At the occasion of his 79th birthday
''Kawakatsus' Web Library on Planarians'', 29 Jan 2008: 1-15. He died in his sleep on 13 July 2005 while on vacation at the

Chautauqua Institution The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown, New York, Jamestown in the western southern tier of New York (state), N ...

, New York.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogren, Robert E. 1922 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American zoologists Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Northwestern University alumni University of Illinois alumni American parasitologists Helminthologists Ursinus College faculty Dickinson College faculty Wilkes University faculty