Robert Lee Metcalf (November 13, 1916 – November 11, 1998) was an American

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, environmental toxicologist, and insect chemical

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

. pubmed.gov: Homage to Robert Lee Metcalf (1916-1998): entomologist, environmental toxicologist, and insect chemical ecologist Metcalf was noted for making environmentally safe pest control achievable. Metcalf was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, a member of National Research Council, a fellow and president of the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

. He was a member of

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

's Pesticide Advisory Panel. The

National Center for Biotechnology Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The NCBI is lo ...

called Metcalf "one of the leading entomologists of the 20th century". The

National Academies Press The US National Academies Press (NAP) was created to publish the reports issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly known as the National Research Council (United States), National Research Council), the Na ...

called him the twentieth century’s most influential entomologist. The

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

called him "a brilliant scientist and educator".

Notable awards and distinctions

*Order of Cherubini,

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

, Italy, 1966 *Charles T. Spencer Award,

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, 1966 *Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research,

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, 1967 *International Award, Pesticide Chemistry,

, 1972 *Meritorious Service Award, American Mosquito Association, 1976 *Ciba Geigy Award of the

, 1977 *Memorial Lecture Award of the

, 1978 *Honorary Member,

, 1979 *School of Life Sciences,

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 ...

, Distinguished Lectureship Award, 1979 *Founders' Award, Society for Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, 1983

Life and career

Metcalf was born in Columbus, Ohio. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from

in 1939 and 1940, respectively. He received his Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1942. Metcalf joined the faculty of the

in 1948. He moved to the

in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalf, Robert Lee 1916 births 1998 deaths American entomologists Chemical ecologists University of California, Riverside faculty University of Illinois faculty University of Illinois alumni Cornell University alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from Columbus, Ohio American toxicologists 20th-century American zoologists Presidents of the Entomological Society of America