Mitchell, Theodore B.

Theodore B. Mitchell was born on October 26, 1890, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He attended Massachusetts Agricultural College (now University of Massachusetts, Amherst), from which he graduated with a B.S. degree in 1920. He also served in the U.S. Army as a Band Sargeant, spending one year in France during World War I. Mitchell was employed by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture in 1920 as an Assistant Entomologist. In that capacity he conducted extensive field surveys, and the focus on "systematic entomology" that was to dominate his future research came into being. Furthering his education, Mitchell obtained the M.S. degree from North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (later North Carolina State University) in 1924, and completed his education with an S.D. degree from Harvard University in 1928.

Joining the NCSC faculty in 1925, Dr. Mitchell was promoted to associate professor in 1930, and achieved the rank of full professor in 1938, a position that he held until his retirement in 1961. Mitchell continued his research for many years after his retirement, and was a noted figure in the field of entomology. The special attention given to bees throughout his career culminated in the publication of Bees of the Eastern United States, a two-volume manual of the entire bee fauna.

Dr. Mitchell was a memer of many honorary and professional fraternities and organizations, most notably Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma Delta, the Entomological Society of America, and the North Carolina Academy of Science.

Dr. Mitchell was married to Miss Olivia Gowan of Raleigh in 1924, and they had one son, Richard. T.B. Mitchell died on February 10, 1983.

From the guide to the Theodore B. Mitchell Papers, 1918 - 2008, (Special Collections Research Center)