IN MEMORIAM

Standish Mallory

On February 15, 2003, UC Berkeley alumnus and micropaleontologist Stan Mallory passed away at the age of 83. Under the guidance of Robert Kleinpell, Stan completed his dissertation on the lower Tertiary foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the California Coast Ranges, which was published by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1959. This book complemented his mentor’s dissertation on the Miocene of California, also published in 1938. Both continue to be standard references on West Coast biostratigraphy.
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Stan loved playing the saxophone and as a youth he occasionally played with Duke Ellington’s band. Although he also enjoyed spelunking fossil-bearing limestone caverns, his professional aspirations drew him into the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. But his path was interrupted by World War II and service in military intelligence. Afterwards, Stan chose to pursue his other loves, marrying Miriam Rowan and enrolling in the Department of Paleontology at UC. In 1952, he joined the geology faculty at the University of Washington. During his tenure, he advised more than 50 graduate students, many of whom went on to prominent careers in micropaleontology, and fathered four children. Stan later became Curator of Geology at UW’s Burke Museum, whereupon he built up the collections, especially microfossils and minerals. He also excavated a Megalonyx and acquired the museum’s Allosaurus.

— Ken Finger