The Hatfield Marine Science Center Director
Because of her two sons' involvement in marine biology, Mamie Markham was a long-time supporter of the Hatfield Marine Science Center even before establishing an endowment for the director's position. Sons James and John (who received his M.A. from OSU in oceanography in 1967) are both marine biologists.
Mrs. Markham's first gifts to the Marine Science Center were made with her husband Wilbur, who died in 1981. After his passing, Mrs. Markham continued to make generous contributions to the Center chiefly through the donation of shares of stock. In 1995, three months before her death, she made her largest-ever commitment, providing another securities gift to establish an endowment to support the directorship.
George W. Boehlert
George W. Boehlert was named the Hatfield Marine Science Center Director in 2002.
Boehlert has published more than 80 scientific papers. His research has focused on fisheries oceanography, impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems, ocean survival of Pacific salmon, fish reproduction, growth dynamics in fish, and larval fish ecology.
"The Hatfield Marine Science Center is one of the best marine laboratories in the nation to lead and develop cooperative research and education programs involving academic, state, and federal groups," Boehlert said. "Oregon State University has great breadth in marine science, including marine biology, oceanography, fisheries science, and resource economics; the HMSC represents a great strength in OSU’s marine science enterprise and opens many opportunities for our students.”
A 1972 graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Boehlert went on to earn his Ph.D. in marine biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego. He joined the OSU faculty as an assistant professor of oceanography in 1979, where he remained for four years before joining NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service laboratory in Honolulu.
He spent 10 years in Hawaii, the last five as director of the laboratory and on the faculty of the University of Hawaii. In 1993, he moved to Monterey to direct NOAA's laboratory there.
More than 150,000 people visit the Hatfield Marine Science Center each year, and some 12,000 primary and secondary students take part in its marine education programs. The center also is home to several OSU undergraduate and graduate programs in marine science and to OSU research in the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies, Oregon Sea Grant, and several departments in different OSU colleges. Dr. Boehlert has directed funds from the endowed directorship to support graduate student research.
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