Donald Putnam Abbott

Donald Putnam Abbott (1920-1986) was an invertebrate zoologist and Professor of Biology at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University from 1950 through 1982. He earned his Ph.D. under S.F. Light and Ralph Smith at the University of California, Berkeley. Don was an expert on ascidian tunicates and an authority on all forms of invertebrate animals. He was an influential teacher, researcher, author, and student mentor.^[1] His wife, Isabella Abbott, was a world authority on marine algae of the Pacific.

Personal life

Don Abbott was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on 14 October 1920. His father, a physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, died in 1936 at the age of 52. Within months of his father’s death Don left Chicago. By 1937 he arrived in Hawaii and enrolled in the University of Hawaii at Manoa to study zoology. While there he met Isabella “Izzie” Aiona, a botany student. Don graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor’s Degree in zoology and remained at the University of Hawaii as an instructor when his graduate studies were interrupted by the outbreak of WWII. Don and Izzie married in 1943. That same year Don enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the Chemical Warfare Service.^[2]

After the war Don and Izzie moved to California where they both pursued graduate degrees at the University of California, Berkeley, Don in zoology and Izzie in botany. Don earned a M.S. degree in zoology in 1948 and a Ph.D. degree in 1950. Izzie earned her Ph.D. in botany in 1950.

During the summers of 1948 and 1949 Don worked as a teaching assistant for the University of California for its summer courses taught at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. In 1950 Don accepted an offer to join the Faculty at the Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA, where he spent his entire professional career.

In 1953 Don participated in a research cruise to Ifaluk Atoll, Micronesia, but was struck down by polio mellitus when he returned and nearly lost his life. As he recovered he feared that he may never walk again, though he eventually did, but with a slight limp. This brush with death gave him an intensity of focus and drive that became the hallmark of his life and work.^[3]

When Don retired in 1982 he and Izzie returned to Hawaii where Izzie accepted a Faculty position at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Don died in 1986 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Don remained active professionally right until the end, meeting with colleagues to discuss projects and manuscripts even the day before his passing.^[4]

Don and Izzie have one child, a daughter, Annie Abbott Foerster.

Professional career

In 1950 Stanford University hoped to recruit the prominent British zoologist Charles Maurice Yonge to join the Faculty of Hopkins Marine Station. Dr. Yonge declined but recommended Don Abbott to the search committee. Don was subsequently offered an instructorship at Hopkins (he was also offered instructorship positions at Yale and Columbia University). Don accepted Stanford’s offer and joined the Faculty at Hopkins Marine Station where he remained his entire career (1950-1982).

Don was an active researcher but his greatest legacy was as a teacher. His courses were among the most popular ever offered at Hopkins Marine Station. He influenced hundreds of students in his invertebrate zoology course (111H-112H) and the Hopkins “Spring Course.” Don was also an effective graduate student mentor, supervising 25 students who earned Ph.D. degrees and 10 more who earned masters degrees.

In addition to his many research publications, Don contributed to two major books that are constantly used by invertebrate zoologists even now, decades after they were published. He was invited to contribute to the book "Light's Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast" and was the principal author and editor of "Intertidal Invertebrates of California" which is often simply and affectionally referred to as "The Big Book."

In 1975 Don was awarded the Stanford University H&S Dean's Award for Teaching.^[5] At the 1982 Commencement of Stanford University Don was also awarded the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Education.^[6]

The career of Donald P. Abbott and his contributions to the fields of invertebrate zoology and marine biology were commemorated in a symposium held in his honor on 20–23 November 1987 at the Asilomar Conference Center, Asilomar, California, USA. It was sponsored by The Hopkins Marine Station and Stanford University. More than 150 of Don's colleagues, students, and friends attended these scientific meetings and many of them presented research that covered the wide span of topics that would have interested him.^[7]

Selected Works

• Donald P. Abbott (1953). Asexual reproduction in the colonial ascidian Metandrocarpa taylori. University of California Press. 
• Marston Bates; Donald P. Abbott (1959). IFALUK-Portrait of a Coral Island. Museum Press Ltd. 
• Donald P. Abbott (1968). The Biology of Acmaea. The Veliger 11 Supplement. 
• Robert H. Morris, R.H.; Donald P. Abbott; Eugene C. Haderlie (1980). Intertidal Invertebrates of California. Stanford University Press. 
• Donald P. Abbott (1980). Phylum Chordata: Introduction to the Urochordata, in Light’s Manual – Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast 3rd Edition. University of California Press. 
• Donald P. Abbott; Galen H. Hilgard (1987). Observing Marine Invertebrates: Drawings from the Laboratory. Stanford University Press. 
• Donald P. Abbott; A. Todd Newberry; Kendall M. Morris (1997). Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii. Bishop Museum Press. 

References