Local Universities and Field Museum in joint project 



NEW GRADUATE CENTER OPENS 



by Robert F. Inger, Curator, Reptiles and Amphibians 



The x«ajor natural history museums in this country are well 

 known for their exhibit halls and the educational programs 

 tied in with these exhibits. They are perhaps less widely 

 recognized by the general public as institutions that are en- 

 gaged in research. Probably their least publicized function 

 is their direct contribution to the formal training of univer- 

 sity students. Although it is easy to arrange these three func- 

 tions or activities of museums in order of their public ac- 

 knowledgment, it is difficult to say which is most important. 



To carry out the last function more effectively, Field 

 Museum of Natural History in cooperation with Northwest- 

 ern University and the University of Chicago recently or- 

 ganized a Center for Graduate Studies. At present the 

 scope of the Center is limited to systematic zoology and 

 paleontology, which involve problems in classifying organ- 

 isms and in evolutionary biology. We hope eventually to 

 include the other scientific areas of interest to the Museum's 

 staff. The next few paragraphs will outline the purposes, 

 program and organization of the Center. 



The purpose of the Center is to provide for the graduate 

 training of university students. Museum scientists will par- 

 ticipate in the supervision of the research done by gradu- 

 ate students for their advanced degrees and the Museum 

 will provide laboratory space, library facilities, and speci- 

 mens for those students. Museum staff may also conduct 

 graduate classes as the need arises. (As of this writing, 

 eleven members of the Museum's staff are giving such 

 a course at the Museum, for the University of Chicago.) 

 The universities will provide the remainder of the training 

 and instruction necessary for the Ph.D. degree and will 

 award the degrees. 



The program of the Center is regulated by an Advisory 

 Committee consisting of three curators from the Museum, 

 Drs. Zangerl, Wenzel, and Inger, and two faculty members 

 from each of the universities, Drs. Peter Bretsky and Or- 

 lando Park from Northwestern and Drs. E. C. Olson and 

 Ronald Singer from Chicago. The Advisory Committee is 

 also responsible for admission of students to the Center. 



In mid-1967 the Museum received a grant from the 

 National Science Foundation to help support the activities 

 of the Center for two years. Funds from the grant will be 

 used for two main purposes: to provide support for students 

 in the form of fellowships, equipment, and supplies, and to 

 hire additional supporting staff at the Museum. The last 

 is essential if curators are to be relieved of certain duties in 

 in order to devote time to students. 



This grant represents a new venture for the National 



Science Foundation. It is the first research training grant 

 made to a non-university museum from the Foundation's 

 research funds. The Museum's monetary contribution to 

 the Center, largely in the form of the time of its staff, facil- 

 ities, and money from its Dee Fund, is approximately 35% 

 of the total budget. 



All of the preceding is the bare bones skeleton, so to 

 speak. What is the motivation for initiating the Center? 

 What do we hope to accomplish through it? 



The principal motivation is the desire to contribute to 

 the development of an area of science with which the Mu- 

 seum and its staff are concerned. One of the most effective 

 ways of advancing any scientific or professional field is by 

 providing better training for the young men or women en- 

 tering the field. One man trains two and thereby enlarges 

 the field. If, in addition, he gives them better training than 

 he had as a student, the growth of our knowledge proceeds 

 at an even faster rate. \Ve hope through the Center to im- 

 prove and increase the opportvmities for professional train- 

 ing in systematic zoology and paleontology. 



Beyond our hope to advance these academic fields, there 

 are several more "practical" motives. Our nation, through 

 several major scientific-technological programs, has uncov- 

 ered a shortage of persons trained in these fields. The big 

 push in exploring the oceans has come up against a hard 

 fact — there simply are not enough people with the training 

 required to identify and classify the animals collected by the 

 great oceanographic programs. Many ambitious medical 

 projects concerned with insect-borne diseases, projects being 

 conducted in Vietnam and other tropical areas, require the 

 services of systematic zoologists and again the demand ex- 

 ceeds the supply. As a nation we are becoming increasingly 

 concerned with a variety of environmental problems at 

 home and abroad: the active participation of systematic 

 zoologists is needed if we are to solve these problems. The 

 Center can help relieve this manpower shortage. 



There is still another motive for the Center. Good grad- 

 uate students ask stimulating, sometimes embarassing ques- 

 tions. The attempt to answer them helps keep university 

 professors and museum scientists mentally alive. Our third 

 motive, then, boils down to the selfish desire for an intellec- 

 tual fountain of youth. 



It would be misleading if this article gave the impression 

 that the Center represents an entirely new approach for the 

 Field Museum. It does not. On an informal, individual 

 basis museum curators have been working for years with 

 graduate students from our great local universities. In fact. 



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