He was a naturalist in the best and truest sense of that term, with a boundless and enthusiastic interest in and curiosity about all nature. He served as curator of the Museum of Zoology from 1924 to 1937, and was instrumental in the formation of the Museum of Natural History in 1937. He collected over 7,000 of the animal specimens now in that Museum and was curator of zoology until 1962. He continued his studies on Peromyscus in a series of investigations on the inheritance of hair color and skeletal features, using the classical tools o£ genetic analysis. When Sumner turned from mice to fishes in later years, the Peromyscus colony was transferred from La Jolla to Eugene, and was maintained here as a major resource of genetic material, largely through Huestis’ unaided efforts. He could be found, almost any time, in the Mouse House, cleaning and caring for the gentle attractive little beasts. Many of his summers were spent as a naturalist at Crater Lake. His garden provided materials for our biology courses, and he knew much about birds, mice, ground squirrels, and people.
Research was by no means Ralph’s only concern. He was above all an exacting but stimulating teacher. Like all good teacher, he was always willing to learn, and had a vast fund of information on many subjects gathered from a variety of sources. Without detailed background in anatomy and embryology, he mastered these subjects and taught them to generations of premedical students. Scratch any physician who did undergraduate work in Eugene during Huestis’ long career, and you will find traces of that meticulous training. He was also an enthusiastic teacher of those who had no continuing interest in science. His contribution to the old Biological Science Survey course conveyed an appreciation of the importance to firm knowledge of careful observation and critical analysis, while his ready wit and broad enjoyment of all nature, especially human nature, gave a lighter touch to his teaching. He had a fund of anecdotes for illustration, and shared his own amusement at the peculiarities of nature, of mankind, and of himself with his classes. On the other side, he had little patience with rudeness or lack of application. Those students who whiled away the early part of a lecture by reading the Daily Emerald were startled by the impact of a well-aimed eraser in the middle of their paper. Those who dropped off to sleep sometimes felt the sting of a flying bit of chalk. He who wandered in ten minutes late was subjected to a long silent stare, as the lecture stopped until he found a seat and was ready to listen. If the enrollment exceeded the capacity of the laboratory, the weak-hearted were discouraged by a stiff examination at the end of the first week. 8ut for those who survived these things,- the result was worth the effort. He was a great teacher in a rigorous tradition, and a very human one. The young man who disputed a grade was, as often as not, challenged to a handball match to settle the matter. Ralph was, unofficially at least, handball champion of the faculty for many years, and there is no record of a student improving his grade in contest with him.
Ralph Huestis was, finally and above all, a loyal champion of this faculty. He was elected to the Advisory Council for nine successive terms, from 1945 to 1954, and served as chairman of the council from 1949 to 1951. He was a member of the Trowbridge committee, which undertook the revision of the University curriculum into the form which it still has. He was valiant in defending the faculty from encroachments by deans, presidents, boards, and legislatures. Yet he incurred no rancor and was never bitter when thwarted. The University did not always treat him well, but his efforts were always directed to improving the University.
Huestis’ career was crowned by two major achievements in his last years of active work. In 1954 he discovered in his mice a case of inherited jaundice. He was quick to see the medical significance of this observation and with Mrs. Ruth Anderson worked out in full the pathological and genetic aspects of this disorder, which turned out to be closely similar to inherited jaundice in man. This work launched a series of major studies in other laboratories that are a monument to Huestis and to PeromYscus. In 1954 he was also appointed head of the Biology Department, and carried it through a critical and difficult period until his official retirement in 1957.
Ralph Huestis was not made for retirement. He continued teaching, though a little less actively, for five years, At 70, he began the melancholy process of dispersing the mouse colony he had maintained so long. A year ago he moved to Yachats and was seen less often on the campus. On February 25, 1969 he died. This University will not see his like again.
At Mr. Shotwell’s request the secretary was instructed to include the memorial in the minutes of this meeting, and to send a copy to Mr. Huestis’ family.
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