Marr, John W. (John Winton), 1914-

John W. Marr (1914-1989) was born in Lamesa, Texas. He became a major contributor to arctic and alpine ecology, and a primary facilitator of ecological research in alpine tundra in the U.S. He majored in botany at Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas, in the early 1930s and developed a life-long interest in mountains during a school field camp in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of northern New Mexico. Marr received his bachelor's degree from Texas Tech in 1936, and Marr transferred to the University of Minnesota from Northwestern University after one year of graduate work. His dissertation dealt with the ecology of the east coast of Hudson Bay. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1942. During World War II, the Air Force created a civilian position for Marr as Arctic Regions Specialist in the Arctic, Desert and Tropics Information Center (ADTIC). Stationed in Greenland for part of the war, Marr found his arctic knowledge and skills involved him with rescues of downed flight crews on the ice cap. In September 1944, Marr joined the biology department at the University of Colorado. In April of 1951, the University of Colorado established the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Ecology. The name soon changed to the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, commonly called the "Institute." The alpine tundra on Niwot Ridge, where Marr had first begun his studies of Rocky Mountain tundra, became a research site operated by the Institute. Marr retired from the University of Colorado in 1982. He received the Robert L. Stearns Award for outstanding service.