 
Former
UC Berkeley dean of agriculture Earle Gorton Linsley has died
at the age of 89
06
Apr 2000
By
Kathleen Scalise, Public Affairs
BERKELEY
-- Earle Gorton Linsley, dean of the University of California,
Berkeley, College of Agricultural Sciences from 1960 to 1973,
died March 8 at a nursing home in Sonoma, California. He was
89.
Among
many contributions to the campus, Linsley played an important
role in transforming UC Berkeley's former agricultural college
into the current College of Natural Resources, said Henry J.
Vaux Sr., former dean of UC Berkeley's School of Forestry.
"Dean
Linsley led the college in the years leading up to the creation
of the College of Natural Resources," Vaux said. "He
was very much concerned about the future of the College of Agricultural
Sciences, and it was his leadership that enabled the college
to retain its strength and to adapt."
At
that time, "there were several departments in our college
that could not be matched anywhere in the world," said
Professor Emeritus Woodrow Middlekauff, an associate dean under
Linsley for 10 years. "(Dean Linsley) fought to keep the
academic strengths of these departments here on the Berkeley
campus, where they originated."
Born
in Oakland, Linsley was one of the world's leading authorities
on the classification and biology of wild bees and wood-boring
beetles. He also made contributions in related fields including
forest entomology, the pollination of agricultural seed crops,
and the study of insects affecting stored food products.
Linsley
earned his PhD in systematic entomology at UC Berkeley in 1938.
He began his teaching career as an instructor at UC Berkeley
the following year, and advanced to professor of entomology
in 1953. He chaired the entomology and parasitology department
from 1951 to 1959, and then became dean of the college.
"He
was truly an outstanding person, scientist and dean," said
David Schlegel, former dean of the college. "He was always
attentive, sympathetic and fair in his dealings with faculty
and department chairs, and was keenly aware of the important
role of the university, the college, the departments and the
faculty."
A
prolific writer, Linsley published more than 400 scientific
articles and books. His many honors included the Fellows Medal
of the California Academy of Sciences, the Centennial Medal
of the State Agricultural Experiment Station and the Berkeley
Citation, a high honor on campus.
After
his retirement from UC Berkeley in 1974, Linsley focused on
his other interests, including photography, sports, and a substantial
stamp collection featuring birds, insects, flowers and other
biological themes.
Linsley is
survived by two children, James Linsley, who resides outside
of Weed, Calif., and Joan Linsley McFarlane of Auburn, Calif.
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