William Erwood Old, Jr.

William Erwood Old, Jr.

William Erwood Old, Jr.
Born April 14, 1928(1928-04-14)
Norfolk, Virginia
Died July 12, 1982(1982-07-12) (aged 54)
New York City
Nationality USA
Fields malacology
Institutions American Museum of Natural History
Known for specialist on marine molluscs

William Erwood Old, Jr. usually known as Bill Old, (14 April 1928 in Norfolk, Virginia – 31 December 1982 in New York City)[1] was an American malacologist.[2]

He attended the The College of William & Mary in Virginia.[1] He served in the army during the Korean War.[1]

He joined the American Museum of Natural History in 1960.[1] He helped build the American Museum's mollusc collection into a leading research resource.[1] He was the first collections manager in malacology at the American Museum of Natural History.

He became a specialist in marine molluscs.[1] He was extremely devoted to his science and was well known as a shell show judge in many parts of the United States.[1] He went on several expeditions including ones to the Galapagos and Mexico.[1]

Old was president of the American Malacological Society from 1978 to 1979, and president of the New York Shell Club from 1963 to 1965.

He died of heart attack in 1982.[1]

Bibliography

He authored or co-authored 36 papers. As junior author to William K. Emerson, he named several species of marine mollusks, including:

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference [1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Abbott R. T. (1983). "William E(rwood) Old, Jr." The Nautilus 97(1): 43-44.
  2. ^ Coan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (15 February 2011). 2,400 years of malacology, 8th ed., 936 pp. + 42 pp. [Annex of Collations]. American Malacological Society

Further reading