fbpx
Wikipedia

Vasco M. Tanner

April 11, 2024

Vasco Myron Tanner (October 29, 1892 – April 25, 1989) was an American entomologist from Utah, professor of zoology, and chair of the zoology and entomology departmentat Brigham Young University (BYU). Tanner also taught at Dixie College while he did research. He published over 140 scientific articles, mostly focusing on insects, but also researching birds, mammals, reptiles and fishes.[1] He also founded the journal The Great Basin Naturalist.[2] Tanner was a part of numerous entomology recreational societies and worked to reduce flood risk as chair of the forestry and flood control committee with Provo's Chamber of Commerce. Tanner created and funded an award at Dixie College, which still exists today. He also donated money to create an entomological research fund at the college. He has numerous insect species named after him because of his research in the field.

Vasco M. Tanner
Born(1892-10-29)October 29, 1892
Payson, Utah
DiedApril 25, 1989(1989-04-25) (aged 96)
Provo, Utah
Alma mater
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology
InstitutionsBrigham Young University
ThesisA preliminary study of the genitalia of female Coleoptera (1925)
Doctoral advisorG. F. Ferris

Early life edit

 
Tanner in the 1914 Brigham Young University yearbook

Vasco Myron Tanner was born to John Myron and Lois Ann Stevens Tanner on October 29, 1892, in Payson, Utah. He spent his childhood in farms in Indianola and Fairview, Utah.[3]: 8  His younger brother Wilmer Webster Tanner became a noted herpetologist.[4] In 1909, at age 17, he moved to Provo, living with extended family while he attended Brigham Young High School for two years.[3]: 13  He finished high school at the newly established North Sanpete High School.[3]: 14 

College and teaching edit

In 1912, he attended college at Brigham Young University for three years, where he majored in biology. He received a scholarship which paid for two years of his tuition there.[3]: 16  He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1915.[5]

Tanner finished coursework for his master's degree in geology from the University of Utah in 1916. While he was writing his thesis on the deltas of Lake Bonneville, he taught at Dixie Junior College in St. George, Utah. Tanner helped Ernest M. Hall collect some of the first specimens in Dixie College's botany collection.[6] Tanner officially graduated from the University of Utah in 1920.[3]: 19 

Also in 1920, Tanner went back to Dixie College to teach after supervising agricultural projects in Moroni for two years and became a state crop pest inspector for Washington County, Kane County, and Iron County. He began work on his PhD at Stanford in the summers of 1921 and 1923, where David Starr Jordan, then president of Stanford, befriended him and convinced him to study entomology.[3][7] He earned his PhD from Stanford in 1925 in zoology and entomology with G. F. Ferris as his dissertation adviser. Tanner's dissertation was on the morphology of the genitalia of female beetles. Later, in 1925, he accepted an appointment to be a professor of zoology and entomology at Brigham Young University and chairman of the same department.[3]: 35 

Brigham Young University and civic work edit

Tanner was the chair of the zoology and entomology department until 1958.[8] He helped construct a lakeside biological laboratory where the Provo River empties into Utah Lake, where he and his students studied fish and birds.[3]: 44  He founded, published, and edited The Great Basin Naturalist starting in 1939, through which he published many of his own papers.[9] Tanner studied beetles, especially darkling beetles and weevils, as well as herpetology and natural history of the Great Basin. By 1970, he had described around 65 species and one genus of beetles, and was commemorated in the scientific names of five species.[9] He directed the research of 48 graduate students, and published nearly 150 articles.[2] The university's insect collection doubled from 300,000 insects to over 650,000 between 1951 and 1971 when he helped collect specimens for the university.[10]

His students praised his dedication to encourage individual students and his passion for zoology.[11] In 1972, he received the Karl G. Maeser award for teaching excellence.[12] He was a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and the Entomological Society of America.[13] While Tanner stopped teaching at age 78 in 1970, he continued work as a curator of entomology until 1981.[3]: 123 

 
In 1932, the Tanners built a home in Provo at 70 E 800 N designed by Joe Nelson[3]: 68 

Tanner served for 35 years as chairman of the forestry and flood control committee in Provo's Chamber of Commerce. As part of his work to reduce flood risk, he oversaw terracing, development of recreational facilities, and cessation of mountain grazing and planting of grasses in the Provo Canyon and surrounding areas.[14] He was also chairman of the city utilities board for 20 years. There is an electrical substation named after him at the mouth of the Provo Canyon, which reduced blackouts in Provo.[15] Tanner was a member of the Utah state parks and recreation commission for four years, and was president of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers for three years.[8] He was secretary and editor for the Utah Academy of Arts and Sciences for 12 years.[16] He was a Democratic state congressman candidate in 1964.[17]

Family life and legacy edit

Tanner met his wife, Annie Atkin, at Dixie College the first year he taught there.[3]: 20  They were married on June 7, 1917.[18] They had five children together.[19] The Tanners also helped raise Ahmed Shayesteh from age ten, at the request of Ahmed's father, United States Minister from Iran, and BYU President Franklin S. Harris.[3]: 78  On family camping trips, Vasco still prioritized specimen collection, enlisting his children to aid his search for new desert species. Annie wrote that "in the mind of a zoologist, the female of the species is only important for the part she plays in reproducing the species. This part I have played."[19]

When Annie Atkin Tanner died in 1972, Vasco gave $2000 to create the Annie Atkin Tanner literary award at Dixie College.[20] Most recently in 2015, Vasco's son Jordan Tanner gave an endowment to Dixie to continue the award, which members of the Tanner family judge.[21][22] Also in 1972, Tanner donated $10,000 to establish a curatorial entomological research fund.[3]: 55  Tanner is commemorated in the names of several insect species, including Utabaenetes tanneri,[23] Eschatomoxys tanneri,[24] Cicindela repanda tanneri,[25] and the weevils Bagous tanneri[26] and Sitona tanneri.[27]

References edit

  1. ^ Hayward, C. Lynn (1970). "Vasco M. Tanner". The Great Basin Naturalist. 30 (4): 181–189. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5894. JSTOR 41711266.
  2. ^ a b H. Duane Smith; Herbert H. Frost (1991). "Vasco Myron Tanner: 1892-1989". Journal of Mammalogy. 72 (2): 430–432. doi:10.2307/1382122. JSTOR 1382122.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Smith, Carol T.; Forsyth, Carmela T. (1995). Vasco M. Tanner, Renaissance Man. Provo, Utah. OCLC 78614747.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
  5. ^ Brigham Young University Commencement Exercise, 1915.
  6. ^ 1977 Oral transcript of interview of V.M. Tanner with Gott Dixie college special collections, 76-001
  7. ^ Oral history interview with Vasco M. Tanner, conducted by Millard L. Meanea on 12 August 1975 for the Joint Oral History Program of the Brigham Young University Alumni Association Emeritus Club. [1]
  8. ^ a b "Vasco M. Tanner Day". The Daily Herald (Provo, UT). 30 July 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  9. ^ a b Leech, Hugh (1970). "Vasco M. Tanner — A Lifetime With Beetles". The Great Basin Naturalist. 30 (4): 213–215. JSTOR 41711266.
  10. ^ Wilkinson, Ernest; Arrington, Leonard, eds. (1976). Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 3. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780842507080. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  11. ^ Kenneth, Duke (1970). "Vasco M. Tanner — An Inspiring Teacher". The Great Basin Naturalist. 30 (4): 209–210. JSTOR 41711266.
  12. ^ "BYU Picks Eight Educators to Get Maeser Teaching, Research Awards". The Daily Herald. 28 April 1972. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Dr. Vasco Tanner Seeks State Legislature Post". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah). 2 April 1964. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  14. ^ Tanner, Vasco M. (23 February 1958). "Flood Control Project Preserves Resources". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Provo Power Project Near Completion". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah). 2 March 1969. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Dr. Vasco M. Tanner, Utilities Worker and Board Member, Civic Worker, Files". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah). 30 September 1957. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  17. ^ "19th Century Enjoys Talks by Candidates". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  18. ^ "Marriages". Washington County News. 7 June 1917. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  19. ^ a b Tanner, Annie Atkin (1970). ""I do" included a zoo". The Great Basin Naturalist. 30 (4): 190–194. JSTOR 41711266.
  20. ^ "Provoan gives $2,000 for Memorial Fund". The Daily Herald. 2 December 1973. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Dixie State honors the late Annie Atkin Tanner for literary contributions". St. George news. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  22. ^ "About The Quill". The Southern Quill. Dixie State University. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  23. ^ Tinkham, Ernest R. (1970). "A remarkable new genus and species of giant black sand treader camel cricket from the San Rafael Desert with key and notes". Great Basin Naturalist. 30: 242–249. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5897.
  24. ^ Sorenson, E. B.; Stones, R. C. (1959). "Description of a new tenebrionid (Coleptera) from Glen Canyon, Utah". Great Basin Naturalist. 19: 63–66.
  25. ^ Yves Bousquet (2012). Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico: Trachypachidae–Trechini. PenSoft Publishers LTD. pp. 1–1722. doi:10.3897/zookeys.245.3416. ISBN 978-954-642-658-1. PMC 3577090. PMID 23431087. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  26. ^ O'Brien, C. W.; Marshall, G. B. (1979). "U.S. Bagous, bionomic notes, a new species, and a new name (Bagoini, Erirhininae, Curculionidae, Coleoptera)" (PDF). Southwestern Entomologist. 4 (2): 141–149.
  27. ^ Bright, Donald E. (1994). "Revision of the Genus Sitona (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) of North America". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 87 (3): 277–306. doi:10.1093/aesa/87.3.277.

External links edit

April 11, 2024
vasco, tanner, vasco, myron, tanner, october, 1892, april, 1989, american, entomologist, from, utah, professor, zoology, chair, zoology, entomology, departmentat, brigham, young, university, tanner, also, taught, dixie, college, while, research, published, ove. Vasco Myron Tanner October 29 1892 April 25 1989 was an American entomologist from Utah professor of zoology and chair of the zoology and entomology departmentat Brigham Young University BYU Tanner also taught at Dixie College while he did research He published over 140 scientific articles mostly focusing on insects but also researching birds mammals reptiles and fishes 1 He also founded the journal The Great Basin Naturalist 2 Tanner was a part of numerous entomology recreational societies and worked to reduce flood risk as chair of the forestry and flood control committee with Provo s Chamber of Commerce Tanner created and funded an award at Dixie College which still exists today He also donated money to create an entomological research fund at the college He has numerous insect species named after him because of his research in the field Vasco M TannerBorn 1892 10 29 October 29 1892Payson UtahDiedApril 25 1989 1989 04 25 aged 96 Provo UtahAlma materStanford University PhD 1925 University of Utah M S 1920 Brigham Young University A B 1915 Scientific careerFieldsEntomologyInstitutionsBrigham Young UniversityThesisA preliminary study of the genitalia of female Coleoptera 1925 Doctoral advisorG F Ferris Contents 1 Early life 2 College and teaching 3 Brigham Young University and civic work 4 Family life and legacy 5 References 6 External linksEarly life edit nbsp Tanner in the 1914 Brigham Young University yearbookVasco Myron Tanner was born to John Myron and Lois Ann Stevens Tanner on October 29 1892 in Payson Utah He spent his childhood in farms in Indianola and Fairview Utah 3 8 His younger brother Wilmer Webster Tanner became a noted herpetologist 4 In 1909 at age 17 he moved to Provo living with extended family while he attended Brigham Young High School for two years 3 13 He finished high school at the newly established North Sanpete High School 3 14 College and teaching editIn 1912 he attended college at Brigham Young University for three years where he majored in biology He received a scholarship which paid for two years of his tuition there 3 16 He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1915 5 Tanner finished coursework for his master s degree in geology from the University of Utah in 1916 While he was writing his thesis on the deltas of Lake Bonneville he taught at Dixie Junior College in St George Utah Tanner helped Ernest M Hall collect some of the first specimens in Dixie College s botany collection 6 Tanner officially graduated from the University of Utah in 1920 3 19 Also in 1920 Tanner went back to Dixie College to teach after supervising agricultural projects in Moroni for two years and became a state crop pest inspector for Washington County Kane County and Iron County He began work on his PhD at Stanford in the summers of 1921 and 1923 where David Starr Jordan then president of Stanford befriended him and convinced him to study entomology 3 7 He earned his PhD from Stanford in 1925 in zoology and entomology with G F Ferris as his dissertation adviser Tanner s dissertation was on the morphology of the genitalia of female beetles Later in 1925 he accepted an appointment to be a professor of zoology and entomology at Brigham Young University and chairman of the same department 3 35 Brigham Young University and civic work editTanner was the chair of the zoology and entomology department until 1958 8 He helped construct a lakeside biological laboratory where the Provo River empties into Utah Lake where he and his students studied fish and birds 3 44 He founded published and edited The Great Basin Naturalist starting in 1939 through which he published many of his own papers 9 Tanner studied beetles especially darkling beetles and weevils as well as herpetology and natural history of the Great Basin By 1970 he had described around 65 species and one genus of beetles and was commemorated in the scientific names of five species 9 He directed the research of 48 graduate students and published nearly 150 articles 2 The university s insect collection doubled from 300 000 insects to over 650 000 between 1951 and 1971 when he helped collect specimens for the university 10 His students praised his dedication to encourage individual students and his passion for zoology 11 In 1972 he received the Karl G Maeser award for teaching excellence 12 He was a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and the Entomological Society of America 13 While Tanner stopped teaching at age 78 in 1970 he continued work as a curator of entomology until 1981 3 123 nbsp In 1932 the Tanners built a home in Provo at 70 E 800 N designed by Joe Nelson 3 68 Tanner served for 35 years as chairman of the forestry and flood control committee in Provo s Chamber of Commerce As part of his work to reduce flood risk he oversaw terracing development of recreational facilities and cessation of mountain grazing and planting of grasses in the Provo Canyon and surrounding areas 14 He was also chairman of the city utilities board for 20 years There is an electrical substation named after him at the mouth of the Provo Canyon which reduced blackouts in Provo 15 Tanner was a member of the Utah state parks and recreation commission for four years and was president of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers for three years 8 He was secretary and editor for the Utah Academy of Arts and Sciences for 12 years 16 He was a Democratic state congressman candidate in 1964 17 Family life and legacy editTanner met his wife Annie Atkin at Dixie College the first year he taught there 3 20 They were married on June 7 1917 18 They had five children together 19 The Tanners also helped raise Ahmed Shayesteh from age ten at the request of Ahmed s father United States Minister from Iran and BYU President Franklin S Harris 3 78 On family camping trips Vasco still prioritized specimen collection enlisting his children to aid his search for new desert species Annie wrote that in the mind of a zoologist the female of the species is only important for the part she plays in reproducing the species This part I have played 19 When Annie Atkin Tanner died in 1972 Vasco gave 2000 to create the Annie Atkin Tanner literary award at Dixie College 20 Most recently in 2015 Vasco s son Jordan Tanner gave an endowment to Dixie to continue the award which members of the Tanner family judge 21 22 Also in 1972 Tanner donated 10 000 to establish a curatorial entomological research fund 3 55 Tanner is commemorated in the names of several insect species including Utabaenetes tanneri 23 Eschatomoxys tanneri 24 Cicindela repanda tanneri 25 and the weevils Bagous tanneri 26 and Sitona tanneri 27 References edit Hayward C Lynn 1970 Vasco M Tanner The Great Basin Naturalist 30 4 181 189 doi 10 5962 bhl part 5894 JSTOR 41711266 a b H Duane Smith Herbert H Frost 1991 Vasco Myron Tanner 1892 1989 Journal of Mammalogy 72 2 430 432 doi 10 2307 1382122 JSTOR 1382122 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Smith Carol T Forsyth Carmela T 1995 Vasco M Tanner Renaissance Man Provo Utah OCLC 78614747 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Beolens Bo Watkins Michael Grayson Michael 2011 The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press p 260 ISBN 978 1 4214 0135 5 Brigham Young University Commencement Exercise 1915 1977 Oral transcript of interview of V M Tanner with Gott Dixie college special collections 76 001 Oral history interview with Vasco M Tanner conducted by Millard L Meanea on 12 August 1975 for the Joint Oral History Program of the Brigham Young University Alumni Association Emeritus Club 1 a b Vasco M Tanner Day The Daily Herald Provo UT 30 July 1976 p 20 Retrieved 17 March 2016 a b Leech Hugh 1970 Vasco M Tanner A Lifetime With Beetles The Great Basin Naturalist 30 4 213 215 JSTOR 41711266 Wilkinson Ernest Arrington Leonard eds 1976 Brigham Young University The First One Hundred Years Vol 3 Provo Utah Brigham Young University Press p 63 ISBN 9780842507080 Retrieved 30 March 2016 Kenneth Duke 1970 Vasco M Tanner An Inspiring Teacher The Great Basin Naturalist 30 4 209 210 JSTOR 41711266 BYU Picks Eight Educators to Get Maeser Teaching Research Awards The Daily Herald 28 April 1972 Retrieved 24 March 2016 Dr Vasco Tanner Seeks State Legislature Post The Daily Herald Provo Utah 2 April 1964 Retrieved 30 March 2016 Tanner Vasco M 23 February 1958 Flood Control Project Preserves Resources The Daily Herald Provo Utah Retrieved 24 March 2016 Provo Power Project Near Completion The Daily Herald Provo Utah 2 March 1969 Retrieved 24 March 2016 Dr Vasco M Tanner Utilities Worker and Board Member Civic Worker Files The Daily Herald Provo Utah 30 September 1957 Retrieved 24 March 2016 19th Century Enjoys Talks by Candidates The Daily Herald Provo Utah Retrieved 24 March 2016 Marriages Washington County News 7 June 1917 Retrieved 14 March 2016 a b Tanner Annie Atkin 1970 I do included a zoo The Great Basin Naturalist 30 4 190 194 JSTOR 41711266 Provoan gives 2 000 for Memorial Fund The Daily Herald 2 December 1973 Retrieved 21 March 2016 Dixie State honors the late Annie Atkin Tanner for literary contributions St George news 21 July 2015 Retrieved 21 March 2016 About The Quill The Southern Quill Dixie State University Retrieved 21 March 2016 Tinkham Ernest R 1970 A remarkable new genus and species of giant black sand treader camel cricket from the San Rafael Desert with key and notes Great Basin Naturalist 30 242 249 doi 10 5962 bhl part 5897 Sorenson E B Stones R C 1959 Description of a new tenebrionid Coleptera from Glen Canyon Utah Great Basin Naturalist 19 63 66 Yves Bousquet 2012 Catalogue of Geadephaga Coleoptera Adephaga of America north of Mexico Trachypachidae Trechini PenSoft Publishers LTD pp 1 1722 doi 10 3897 zookeys 245 3416 ISBN 978 954 642 658 1 PMC 3577090 PMID 23431087 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a journal ignored help O Brien C W Marshall G B 1979 U S Bagous bionomic notes a new species and a new name Bagoini Erirhininae Curculionidae Coleoptera PDF Southwestern Entomologist 4 2 141 149 Bright Donald E 1994 Revision of the Genus Sitona Coleoptera Curculionidae of North America Annals of the Entomological Society of America 87 3 277 306 doi 10 1093 aesa 87 3 277 External links edit nbsp Data related to Vasco Myron Tanner at Wikispecies Vasco Myron Tanner at Find a Grave The Great Basin Naturalist early issues on archive org Collections relating to Vasco Tanner L Tom Perry Special Collections Harold B Lee Library Brigham Young University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vasco M Tanner amp oldid 1174376045, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.