Humphrey remembered as teacher, adviser

By Abigail Bolin

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The passing of Philip S. Humphrey was the passing of a teacher and director passionate about the study of the life of the planet, his peers said. Humphrey, the director of the Natural History Museum from 1967 to 1995, was the man responsible for turning the museum into an educational and research powerhouse, the people who worked closely with him said. Humphrey died in his sleep Friday at the age of 83.

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Photo courtesy of Spencer Research Library

“During his 28 years as director, he was a fantastic mentor to students, faculty and staff,” Leonard Krishtalka, director of the museum, said. “He felt strongly about informal or public education so anyone could learn from his passion and become one of his advocates.”

William Duellman, Humphrey’s former colleague and professor emeritus in the museum, said Humphrey thought it would be beneficial to combine three systematic museums on campus with the Natural History Museum. The Snow Anthropology Museum, the Museum of Invertebrate Paleontology and the McGregor Herbarium merged with the Natural History Museum in 1994.

Duellman said he saw this accomplishment as one of Humphrey’s greatest gifts to the University.

“He turned the museum into a flourishing department,” Duellman said.

Krishtalka said Humphrey always had the best advice. He said that from an incoming director’s point of view, Humphrey was an incredible mentor and counselor.

“He gave me the advice that no matter how tough the situation is to always be civil and always take the high road,” Krishtalka said. “He was always helpful and a wise mentor to have.”

After retiring from his position as director, Humphrey continued to teach courses at the University. Humphrey also started summer programs for children during his tenure at the museum and discovered a new species of steamer duck in 1981 while doing fieldwork in Argentina.

“In his distinguished career, he touched many lives through his teaching and guidance at the Natural History Museum. KU is a better institution thanks to his dedicated service,” Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said in a press release.

Humphrey’s accomplishments during his time at the University are incomparable, Krishtalka said, but he will also be missed as a person, colleague and friend.

“His shoes are too big to fill,” Krishtalka said in a press release.

Humphrey served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He graduated from Amherst College in 1949 and received a master’s degree and a doctorate in ornithology from the University of Michigan in 1955. Humphrey was a curator at the museums of Yale University and the Smithsonian Institution before being appointed as the director of the Natural History Museum in 1967.

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