Steinhaus, Edward A. (Edward Arthur), 1914-1969

Edward A. Steinhaus was a noted entomologist and academic known for his extensive work in insect pathology, and was the first Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

He was born in 1914 in North Dakota and obtained his B.S. and Ph. D. in Bacteriology from Ohio State University. He married Mabry Clark in 1940. Between 1940 and 1963 Steinhaus worked at the US Public Health Service Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). In 1963 he was appointed Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at UCI, where he was responsible for developing the Psychobiology Department within the School of Biological Sciences and establishing the UCI Center for Pathobiology. Steinhaus died in 1969.

Biography

Edward A. Steinhaus was a noted entomologist and academic known for his extensive work in insect pathology and was the first Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He was born on November 7, 1914 in Max, North Dakota and entered North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University) in 1932, graduating with a B.S. in Bacteriology in 1936. In 1939 he received his Ph.D. in Bacteriology, with a minor in entomology, from Ohio State University. He stayed at Ohio State University for another year, engaged in post-doctoral research. In 1940 he married Mabry Clark.

From 1940 to 1944 Steinhaus was employed as a bacteriologist at the US Public Health Service Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, where he conducted research primarily on tick-borne diseases and associated vaccines. He resigned from the Rocky Mountain Laboratory when he was appointed Assistant Professor of Bacteriology at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in 1944.

At UCB Steinhaus was concerned mainly with bacteriology but also worked as a consultant to various agencies and organizations on arthropod-borne microorganisms of medical value. He was later transferred to the Division of Beneficial Insect Investigations and in 1945 he helped establish the Laboratory of Insect Pathology within this Division. He also began teaching courses in insect pathology during this time and compiled a textbook to support his courses, Insect Microbiology, which was published in 1946. This publication was followed by Principles of Insect Pathology in 1949, which also served as a course textbook.

Steinhaus' continued interest in the relationship between insect pathology and microbial control motivated him to found the Journal of Insect Pathology, which later expanded its focus and was renamed Journal of Invertebrate Pathology . He served as editor-in-chief for these publications until 1969. In addition to his research and teaching duties at UCB, he was highly active in a number of scientific professional organizations, including the Entomological Society of America (ESA). In addition he continued to publish his research findings, work as a consultant, and serve as an editor and on editorial boards for journals such as Annual Review of Entomology, Journal of Entomology, and Virology . From 1962 to 1963 he served as President of the ESA. In 1960 Steinhaus established a separate Department of Insect Pathology at UCB, which he administered as Chairman until 1963.

University of California, Irvine (UCI) Chancellor Daniel Aldrich invited Steinhaus to become Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the new campus in April 1963. Steinhaus accepted the appointment, becoming the first dean and faculty member at UCI. At UCI Steinhaus was responsible for the creation of a new, integrated curriculum espousing a "levels" approach to biology from molecules to the biosphere, which differed from traditional divisions between bacteriology, botany, and zoology. He was also responsible for developing the Psychobiology Department within the School of Biological Sciences. He taught courses in biological sciences and public policy, the latter of which eventually served as a model for the University Studies Program at UCI, in which senior professors taught courses for a non-major audience in areas of particular personal interest.

While on sabbatical in 1967, Steinhaus resigned as Dean and began to create plans for a UCI Center for Pathobiology. The Center was approved by campus administration in February 1969. It was intended to promote wide-ranging research in diseases in all living organisms; store pathological specimens; and serve as a repository for rare books, manuscripts, and other items relating to pathobiology. Steinhaus was appointed Head, a position in which he served until his death in October 1969.

For further biographical information, see Vision, Courage, Accomplishment: the Life of Edward A. Steinhaus (Irvine: UCI Center for Pathobiology, 1970). A biographical article on Steinhaus is also available online through "University of California: In Memoriam."

Chronology