Mary Jane Rc 

 on fossil cr 



Variations in Staff List 



Since the early 194()s the staff list has been published 

 on a regular basis. One ought to be able to plot the 

 growth of staff since World War II, but this is more 

 difficult than it seems. If one counts all the names listed 

 under scientilic staff for those in the Natural History 

 Building during fiscal year 1955, the figures are: An- 

 thropology, sixteen; Zoology, fiftv-four; and Geology, 

 twenty-five. In 1960 these figures were eleven, twenty, 

 and thirteen, respectively; what one sees here is the 

 effect of a variation in the listing of exhibit specialists, 

 collaborators, honorary associates, and others. In 1960, 

 for just about the first time, the staff listing was a rea- 

 sonably accurate indication of the number of scientists 

 actually paid bv the Museum. In 1965, just after the 

 last of the present departments in the Museum of Nat- 

 ural History was organized, the count from the staff 

 listing was: Anthropology, seventeen; Vertebrate Zo- 

 ology, seventeen; Invertebrate Zoology, sixteen; En- 

 tomology, nineteen; Botany, nineteen (previously four- 

 teen in 1955, and twelve in 1960); Paleobiology, fourteen; 

 Mineral Sciences, six. Some of the departments, par- 

 ticularly Vertebrate Zoology, list exhibit specialists, but 

 these figures mostly count only working scientists. 



One may generalize that after the growth spurt in 

 the mid-1960s and a smaller increase in the early 1970s — 

 effects of big science and the policies of Secretary Ripley — 

 the scientific staff of the Museum has been close to 

 static in terms of total numbers. In one department, 

 the new curator hired in 1971 remained the newest 

 until 1981; the staff member added that year was a 



replacement for one who left. The changes in the 1970s 

 were measured in terms of a few scientific positions a 

 year. Since the late 1970s, as in most of the federal 

 government, there has been essentially no growth in 

 the Museum staff. The numbers of scientists paid by 

 affiliated agencies reached a peak during the 1960s, 

 but since then, in a few of those organizations, have 

 declined.'* 



In recent years the Office of the Director has kept 

 figures on the number of Museum scientists. These are 

 compiled at irregular intervals, but have the advantage 

 of being assembled by one person using consistent cri- 

 teria as to who is considered to be on the scientific staff 

 in a strict sense. The Archivist of the National An- 

 thropological Archives, for example, is judged a his- 

 torian, not a natmal scientist. The director is counted, 

 but an assistant, associate or deputy director may or 

 may not be counted, depending on whether he is a 

 scientist or an administrator. 



In Table 3, the figures for Invertebrate and Verte- 

 brate Zoology in 1964 show the makeup of the overall 

 Department of Zoology, which still existed that year. 

 Expansion of the mid-1960s and problems of the early 

 1970s are evident in the totals. The large number in 

 the Office of the Director in 1966 was a consequence 

 of the assignment of Oceanography to the Museum. 

 The small staff total in 1970 was an administrative ar- 

 tifact resulting from the separation of the Office of 

 Oceanography from the Museum. In the compilation 

 below they are returned to that office from 1976 on- 

 ward. 



138 



The Museum 



