Beetle specialist becomes Rice Professor

David Maddison The gift of an amateur butterfly collector has allowed OSU to hire an internationally recognized entomologist to serve as director of the Oregon State Arthropod Collection, the largest repository of Pacific Northwest insects in the world. Previously a professor at the University of Arizona, David Maddison became the holder of the endowed Harold and Leona Rice Professorship of Systematic Entomology in fall 2009.

"I am completely tickled to be here. This is my dream job," he said. "The collection is a spectacular resource, the department has really top notch people in it, and the endowment will allow me to do amazing things. The combination is outstanding."

Endowed professorships provide ongoing support that the holders can use for a variety of purposes. In Maddison's case, the endowment means he can act a bit more like an amateur entomologist. That is, he can concentrate on the insects he has a passion for, rather than spend so much time administering research grants.

Maddison's research has focused on the evolution of beetles, particularly the carabid genus Bembidion. Of perhaps a dozen fellow Bembidion specialists worldwide, he said, about half are amateurs. One is a dentist in Italy.

"Those of us in academia are sometimes jealous of the amateurs because they might spend more time actually working with these species than we do, even though we have full time entomology jobs," Maddison said. "An endowment allows someone who has been professionally trained to devote more of our core time to our passion."

Amateur entomologists are becoming increasingly prominent in biodiversity discovery, Maddison noted. One example is Harold Rice, who with his wife, Leona, made a gift of land to establish the Rice Professorship. The retired Springfield filbert grower has found species of butterflies never seen before in Oregon and rediscovered others thought extinct.

Once Maddison gets settled at OSU, he intends to use some endowment funds to bring together the Bembidion beetle experts — academics and amateurs alike — for the first time.

Learn More

David Maddison and the Rice Professorship

The impact of private support on OSU faculty

Make a gift to the Oregon State Arthropod Collection