Schneiderman, Howard A., 1927-1990.

Howard A. Schneiderman was a biologist who was appointed Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 1970.

At UCI he assisted in establishing the Developmental Biology Center. Prior to joining the faculty at UCI, he taught at Case Western Reserve University, Harvard, and Cornell. His research focused on developmental genetics, insect pathology, and endocrinology. Schneiderman died in 1990.

From the description of Howard A. Schneiderman papers, 1944-1979. (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 49523549

Biography

Howard A. Schneiderman was an eminent developmental biologist, chief scientist and senior vice-president for research and development at the Monsanto Corporation, and dean and professor of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.

Howard Schneiderman was born on February 9, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York to Anna Grace Center and Louis Schneiderman. Schneiderman entered Swarthmore College in 1944, graduating with a B.A. in Mathematics in 1948 after joining the Navy and entering the Naval Reserve Officer Training Program at Columbia University in 1945. In 1952, he received his Ph.D. in Physiology from Harvard University where he was also a Teaching Fellow. He received his first professional appointment at Cornell University where he taught from 1953 until 1961. At Cornell, he taught zoology and continued his research on discontinuous respiration, which he discovered while at Harvard.

From 1961 to 1969, Schneiderman was employed as a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His research included genetic studies of the development mechanisms of the Drosophila (fruit fly). During his tenure he became Director and Chairman of the Developmental Biology Center and was named Jared Potter Kirtland Distinguished Professor. In 1969, he resigned from Case Western to join the faculty at UCI.

Howard Schneiderman had a long career in authoring and editing scholarly publications. He published the biology textbook ELMS (Ebert, Loewy, Miller, Schneiderman) in 1973 at Holt Reinhart and Winston with co-editors Jim Ebert, Ariel Loewy and Richard Miller. He was American Editor of Wilhelm Roux's Archives, worked for Developmental Biology, and was a member of the editorial boards of Current Topics in Comparative Biology, Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Journal of Experimental Zoology, General and Comparative Endocrinology, American Naturalist , Bio-Science, American Zoologist, Developmental Biology and Biological Bulletin .

At UCI, Schneiderman became Dean of the School of Biological Sciences. While at UCI, he was responsible for developing the Center for Pathobiology Department within the School of Biological Sciences while he continued to teach courses in the biological sciences.

In 1979, Schneiderman accepted the position of Senior Vice President for Research and Development at the Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, while retaining an on-leave appointment at UCI. At Monsanto, he was responsible for building a new program in biotechnology. In order to enhance corporate research, Schneiderman also established a system of collaboration with Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, where he was also employed as an Adjunct Professor.

Schneiderman was acknowledged for his distinguished career numerous times. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, appointed to the National Science Board and received a number of awards and honorary degrees from institutions such as Swarthmore, LaSalle College and UCI. After a long bout with leukemia, Howard Schneiderman died in December 1990.

A 95-page autobiography was published posthumously by the Monsanto Company in 1990 and is included in the collection in the biographical and memorial materials series.

Chronology

• 1927: Born on February 9 in New York City.
• 1948: B.A. Mathematics, Swarthmore College.
• 1949: M.A. Zoology, Harvard University.
• 1952: Ph.D. Physiology, Harvard University.
• 1952: Studies metamorphosis of Cecropia silkworms under Professor Carroll M. Williams.
• 1952: Discovers and analyzes the phenomenon of discontinuous respiration and significance of motor nerves for muscle development in insects.
• 1953 - 1961 : Assistant and later Associate Professor of Zoology, Cornell University.
• 1956 - 1958 : Teaches invertebrate zoology at the Marine Biological Laboratories at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
• 1959 - 1960 : National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, works with Sir Vincent Wigglesworth at Cambridge University, England.
• 1961 - 1969 : Joins faculty at Case Western Reserve University.
• 1961 - 1969 : Investigations of the endocrine control of insect development.
• 1961 - 1969 : Purification and identification of the chemical structure of two insect juvenile hormones with Andre Meyer.
• 1961 - 1969 : Director and later Chairman of Developmental Biology Center, Case Western Reserve University.
• 1962: Director of National Institutes of Health Training Programs in Developmental Biology.
• 1965: Introduces the fruit fly Drosophila into his laboratory for genetic studies of developmental mechanisms.
• 1965: Becomes President of the Society for Developmental Biology.
• 1965: Publishes seminal paper with Mandaram Madhaven on the development of imaginal discs and the precursors of the abdomen in insects.
• 1966 - 1969 : Jared Potter Kirtland Distinguished Professor at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1969 - 1979 : Joins faculty of University of California, Irvine.
• 1969 - 1979 : Becomes Dean of the School of Biological Sciences, Chair of the Department of Organismic (later Developmental and Cell) Biology, and Director of the Center for Pathobiology which under his leadership becomes the Developmental Biology Center.
• 1971: Chairman, Perinatal Biology and Infant Mortality Training Committee of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and United States Public Health Service (USPHS).
• 1973: Distinguished Faculty Award from the UCI Alumni Association.
• 1975: Elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
• 1975: Honorary degree from LaSalle College.
• 1977: Ernst Hadorn Memorial Lecturer at the VIII International Congress of Developmental Biology in Tokyo in 1977.
• 1979 - 1990 : Leaves UCI to become Senior Vice President for Research and Development at the Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri.
• 1979 - 1990 : Develops Monsanto's Life Sciences Research Center for Biotechnology Research in Chesterfield, Missouri.
• 1980: Adjunct Professor at Washington University, Missouri while retaining an on-leave appointment at UCI.
• 1981: Appointed Advisory Director to the Board of Directors of Monsanto Company.
• 1981: Member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Developmental Biologists.
• 1981: Viktor Hamburger Lecturer at Washington University.
• 1982: Honorary degree from Swarthmore College.
• 1983: Gustavson Memorial Lecturer at the University of Nebraska and Founders Memorial Lecturer of the Entomological Society of America.
• 1985: Member of Board of Directors, G. D. Searle and Co. wholly owned subsidiary of Monsanto Company.
• 1987: Appointed by President Reagan to the National Science Board, policy-making body of the National Science Foundation.
• 1989: Awarded the UCI Medal.
• 1989: Recipient of the Gregor Mendel Gold Medal from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
• 1990: Dies in December.
• 2003: UCI Science Lecture Hall renamed Schneiderman Lecture Hall in memory of Howard Schneiderman.

From the guide to the Howard A. Schneiderman papers, Bulk, 1950-1990, 1944-2010, (Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries)