Tracy Irwin Storer (1889-1973) - Zoology, Ornithology

Biographical Sketch, by Sharon Landwehr, Archives Volunteer

Tracy Irwin Storer was born 17 August 1889 in San Francisco, California. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (BS-1912, MS-1913). After completing his early degrees he took a job at the recently established Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California (1914-1923) as assistant curator of birds and later as field naturalist. His work was only interrupted by service in World War I. With receipt of his doctorate impending (University of California, Berkeley, 1924) Storer began his career at the University of California at Davis (1923-1956) where he eventually became Emeritus of Zoology. In 1960 the school conferred upon him the degree Doctor of Letters.

His textbook, General Zoology (1943), was an immediate success. New illustrations had been drawn and Storer's highly compressed writing style communicated a large amount of information in a small space. Other publications include Game Birds of California (with J. Grinnell and H.C. Bryant, 1918), Animal Life in the Yosemite (with Joseph Grinnell 1924), California Grizzly (with Lloyd P. Tevis, Jr., 1955), and Sierra Nevada Natural History (with R.L. Usinger, 1963). In addition, Storer was associate editor of Ecology and Ecological Monographs, and editor of The Journal of Wildlife Management.

He and his wife, Ruth Risdon Storer, endowed the Tracy and Ruth Storer Lectureship in the Life Sciences for the Davis campus. Storer Hall (Zoology building, U.C. Davis) is named after him (1969).

Memberships: California Academy of Sciences (1915, Fellow 1968), American Association for the Advancement of Science (1920-1924), Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (President and Vice-President), the Society of Mammalogists (Charter member, President 1949-1951), the Society of Naturalists, the Cooper Ornithological Club (three time President), and the Wildlife Society (President).

Tracy Irwin Storer died in Davis, California, 25 June 1973.

Sources Consulted:

California Academy of Sciences Manuscript Collection

California Academy of Sciences Index for the Manuscript Collection

Index cards for California Academy of Sciences Staff and Members

California Academy of Sciences Manuscript Biography binder

University of California in Memoriam, March 1976

Obituary, Tracy Irwin Storer (1889-1973) - an Appreciation, Salt and Rudd