Cole, William Harder, 1892-1967
Variant namesBiographical notes:
Cole earned his Harvard AM in 1916 and his PhD in 1921.
From the description of Notes in Botany 9, 1914-1915. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77075140
William Harder Cole, a science educator, was born June 23,1892 in Cayuga, New York. He married Florence Augusta Hanagan in 1918; had no children. He died on February 6, 1967. He graduated from Ballston Spa High School in 1910 and received a B.A. from Hamilton College in 1914. A year was spent studying at Bonn University, Germany, in 1914. He next obtained an M.A. in 1916 and his Ph.D. in 1921 at Harvard University.
Cole's teaching experience included positions of instructor of zoology at Penn State, 1916-20; Austin teaching fellow at Harvard, 1920-21; professor of biology at Lake Forest College, 1921-24; professor of biology at Clark University, 1924-Jan. 1928; and professor of physiology and biochemistry at Rutgers University, 1928-59. Other positions held at Rutgers were Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences in 1943 and Chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry in 1953.
Research activities included trustee of the Mt. Desert Island Biological Lab, 1931-52; director of same, 1931-40; investigator at Bermuda Biological Lab, 1915; Woods Hole, 1925; Pacific Grove, 1929; Cold Spring Harbor, 1930, (director, 1930-52); California Institute of Technology, 1937; Office of Scientific Research and Development at Columbia University, 1942-43. Cole's research work focused on skin transplantation, animal behavior, chemical stimulation, composition of invertebrate bloods, gravity and hemorrhagic shock, and protein metabolism. He served in the Army, Sgt., 1st Class, in the Sanitary Corps from 1917-19 and helped develop a typhoid vaccine.
One of Cole's greatest achievements was his involvement with the Rutgers Research Council. He played an integral role in its development and was the first director, serving from 1944 to 1959. He helped expand research opportunites, especially beyond the sciences to include to other colleges and departments in the humanities.
Cole was involved with numerous science and civic organizations, professional and honorary societies. (For a complete list, see folder "Biographical Data." He was also chairman of the Demarest Motion Picture committee 1949-51 which was set up tosupport the filming of a documentary on William H.S. Demarest, president of Rutgers from 1906 to 1924.
After retiring from Rutgers in 1959, William Cole remained quite active. In 1962, he dedicated the Nelson Biological Labs at Rutgers. In 1966, he was involved in attempting to preserve two historical buildings in the New Brunswick area. From 1965 up to his death in 1967, Cole was involved in a project with Beatrice and Milt Harris of Florida on seashells It began as a display project for the library and schools of Naples, Florida and evolved into the publication of a booklet, Some Marine Molluscs From the Central West Coast of Florida.
Cole published close to one hundred articles in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. He was honored with a portrait at a testimonial dinner in 1958, and made Emeritus Professor at Rutgers in 1959.
From the guide to the Guide to the William Harder Cole Papers, 1910-1967, (Rutgers University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.)
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