Taxacom: Walter J. Bock

[Michael Schmitt]

Dear colleagues,

yesterday the sad news reached me that Walter Joseph Bock has apssed 
away on 27th of January. Walter was professor emeritus of the Columbia 
University, New York, and a zoologist (especially ornithologist), 
evolutionary biologist, and philosopher of biology with a remarkably 
wide scientific horizon.

I copy below a short text by Prof. Dominique Homberger (Baton Rouge) on 
Walter's life and achievements.

Kind regards and best wishes

Theo Michael Schmitt


/In Memoriam/

*Walter J. Bock (20 Nov. 1933—27 Jan. 2022) *was a prominent and 
well-known presence at American, European, and international conferences 
in ornithology and evolutionary biology and an appreciated and respected 
colleague and mentor to established and aspiring ornithologists. At the 
time of his death, Walter Bock was a Professor emeritus in the Dept. of 
Biological Sciences at Columbia University and a Research Associate at 
the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; a Corresponding 
Member of the British Ornithologists' Union and the Senckenberg 
Naturforschende Gesellschaft; a Fellow of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, the American Ornithologists’ Union, the 
Zoological Society, Kolkata (India), and the International 
Ornithologists’ Union (IOU); and an Honorary Member of the Deutsche 
Ornithologen-Gesellschaft. Walter Bock was a recipient of the Elliot 
Coues Award of the American Ornithologists’ Union. After having earned 
his Ph.D. from Harvard University titled “The palatine process of the 
premaxilla in the Passeres" under his advisor Professor Ernst Mayr, he 
spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the Anatomisches Institut 
der Universität in Frankfurt am Main with Professor Dietrich Starck. It 
was during this time that his lifelong friendships and collaborations 
with colleagues in Europe were established. His research and over 300 
publications influenced diverse scientific areas, such as biomechanics 
and functional morphology, systematics and nomenclature, ecomorphology, 
evolution, and philosophy and history of science. Walter Bock devoted 
much time and energy in service to build and promote international 
ornithology as Permanent Secretary (1978-1998) of the International 
Ornithological Committee (the precursor organization of the IOU) and 
President of the 23^rd International Ornithological Congress in Beijing 
in 2002. An extensive obituary will be published later. Tax-deductible 
donations in honor of Walter Bock may be made at 
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.internationalornithology.org%2Fdonate-0&data=04%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C7a6665698d664834b32d08d9ea2a2c1b%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C637798289594286659%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=YJWYMZZL2J0nMETnwWOLPnRP2KJu2yUqOaBOmnvbe5A%3D&reserved=0 .



-- apl.Prof.i.R. Dr. Michael Schmitt, FLS
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universitaet
Allgemeine & Systematische Zoologie
Loitzer Str. 26
D-17489 Greifswald
Germany

Tel.: ++49 (0) 3834-420 4239
E-Mail:michael.schmitt at uni-greifswald.de

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