COPY 
MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY 
At Harvard College 
Cambridge 38, lylassachusetts 
March 8, 1951. 
Dr. Alexander Wetmore 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington 25, D.C. 
Dear Alex° 
As y@u know, Alexander Agassiz left in trust a considerable 
amount of money, large portions of which (subject in complicated fashion to 
various life interests) are destined to come to us for the establishment of research 
professorships in connection with the Museum. One fraction of this amount which 
has already become available has been assigned to the support of certain of us who 
were already on the staff. A further fraction which now falls to us as the result of 
the recent death of Mr. George R. Agassiz enables us to make an outside appoint¬ 
ment, and it is probable that in the not distant future two or three further appoint¬ 
ments may be possible. The matter of our policy in making such appointments is 
one meriting careful consideration, and the Museum governing body has authorized 
me to bring together a small group to (a) advise us on the general policy which we 
should follow in making such appointments and (b) make specific recommendations 
as to the first appointee. I would be very pleased if you would favor us by serving 
on this committee. 
Certain specifications regarding these professorships are laid 
down in Dr. Agassiz 5 will or follow naturally from it. The fields allowable include 
not only zoology and paleontology but also oceanography and physical geology. The 
will limits the appointments to five years, with renewals, but the holder would be 
guaranteed tenure by the Museum. The salary would be within the range proper for 
full professors at Harvard University. Research funds can be supplied (although it 
is hoped that large amounts might not be necessary). Research is the sole specified 
duty of the holder. It is implicit that he can not be called upon for routine curatorial 
work, although of course our collections would be fully available and he might have 
control or supervision of appropriate collections if this were desired and appropriate. 
Elementary teaching is forbidden, but the holder is free to take on individual graduate 
students and a limited amount of advanced teaching might be arranged for if desired 
by the holder and by the appropriate teaching department. Although it is expected 
that the holder would beue ssentially a member of the Museum community, continuous 
residence in Cambridge is not required, and reasonable opportunities would begiven 
for travel or work elsewhere. 
The general qualifications desirable in any proposed appointee are 
topics upon which your advice is desired, but I trust there is no harm in presenting 
some of the thoughts and feelings that have come to us here as a result of con¬ 
sidering local conditions and Museum history. In Louis Agassiz 9 day the Museum 
was the center of all zoological teaching and research in the University 0 In later 
aa Y s , with restricted Museum income on the one hand 4 n d a continual expansion 
