Biologist Wilson To Retire at End Of School Year

Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University professor and one of the most legendary faculty members of his generation, will retire after the 1996-97 academic year.

"He is a giant in biology, no question," said Andrew H. Knoll, chair of the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department. "All of us in the department will lament the fact that he will not be teaching any more."

Wilson has been studying and teaching at Harvard for 46 years. After earning his Ph.D. from the University in 1955 and studying with the Society of Fellows, Wilson earned an appointment as a junior faculty member.

He became Baird professor of science in 1976.

The professor's long list of tributes during his career includes two Pulitzer Prizes for non-fiction.

He won his first prize in 1979 for On Human Nature, and his second in 1991 for The Ants, a mam-moth volume that served as the basis for the computer game SimAnt.

Most recently, he won the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society, in part because of his role in advising Congress on strengthening the Endangered Species Act.

Wilson is best known to many undergraduates for his popular Core course, Science B-15, "Evolutionary Biology," which he will be teaching for the last time this fall.

"[Science B-15] has been his pride and joy for 25 years," Knoll said.

Wilson is well-liked by students and consistently received high ratings in the CUE Guide. He received an overall rating of 4.6 for Science B-15 last year.

"Professor Wilson is a tremendous lecturer with such an incredible range of topics," said Michael B. Garcia '97, who took the course as a first-year.

"I'm not a science person, but I went to all the lectures because of him," he said.

Michael Jasienski, who is a teaching fellow for Science B-15, said he was unaware of Wilson's decision to retire.

"He did say this was the last time he would be teaching Science B-15, he said.

Jasienski, who is now a post-doctoral fellow, was also a TF for Wilson's Core course many years ago when he was a graduate student.

"I remember being surprised how genuinely, truly fascinated he was in ants," Jasienski said.

"I expected with this kind of celebrity status that he would be some kind of big-time operator," he said.

Fortunately for undergraduates, Wilson's departure will not eliminate evolutionary biology from the Core-Curriculum's Science course offernings.

"I can't promise you that there won't be an off year, but there is a strong department commitment to offer a course of comparable content and quality," Knoll said.

"I have received specific interest from our finest faculty members [to teach a similar course]," he said.

Wilson himself could not be reached for comment last night.