| Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr | |
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Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr. and wife Eleanor.
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| Born | October 30, 1907 Belgrade, Maine |
| Died | December 11, 2001 (aged 94) Bedford, Texas |
| Citizenship | American |
| Fields | Biology |
| Institutions | Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology |
| Alma mater | Bowdoin College Cornell University |
| Known for | Ornithology |
| Notable awards | Ludlow Griscom Award |
Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr., (October 30, 1907-December 11, 2001), better known as Sewall Pettingill, was an American naturalist, author and filmmaker, president of the Wilson Ornithological Society from 1948 to 1950,[1] a member of the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society from 1955 to 1974,[2] and a Life Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union.[2]
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Born October 30, 1907 in Belgrade, Maine, Pettingill atteded Bowdoin College, where he developed an interest in ornithology.[2] Studying under the zoologist Alfred O. Gross, Pettingill conducted studies of the last three Heath Hens on Martha's Vineyard in 1927 with Gross and Thornton Burgess.[2] In 1928, Pettingill enrolled in the University of Michigan, then attended graduate school at Cornell University starting in 1930 - joining the AOU in the same year - where he conducted a PhD dissertation on the American Woodcock.[2]
Appointed a delegate to the 12th and 14th International Ornithological Congresses,[2] Pettingill was appointed Director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in 1960, a position he held until his retirement in 1973,[2] and provided footage for four Walt Disney nature films, including the Academy Award-winning The Vanishing Prairie,[2] in addition to making several ornithological films of his own, including works on albatrosses, penguins, and the wildlife of island nations, which often aired as part of Audubon Screen Tours.[3]
Tenured at Carleton College for 17 years,[2] Pettingill taught at the University of Michigan Biological Station for 35 years.[2] Pettingill was awarded birdings highest honor, the Ludlow Griscom Award, in 1982,[2] and also received Cornell's Arthur A. Allen Medal in 1974, and the Eugene Eisenman Medal in 1985.[2] Holding three honorary doctorates in science,[2] Pettingill appeared on both The Today Show and To Tell the Truth.[2]
Pettingill died December 11, 2001, in Bedford, Texas.[2]