William E. Old Jr.

William Erwood Old Jr. usually known as Bill Old, (14 April 1928 in Norfolk, Virginia – 31 December 1982 in New York City)^[1] was an American malacologist.^[2]

William Erwood Old Jr.
William Erwood Old Jr.
Born	(1928-04-14)April 14, 1928 Norfolk, Virginia
Died	December 31, 1982(1982-12-31) (aged 54) New York City
Nationality	American
Known for	specialist on marine molluscs
Scientific career
Fields	malacology
Institutions	American Museum of Natural History

He attended The College of William & Mary in Virginia.^[1] He served in the army during the Korean War.^[1]

He joined the American Museum of Natural History in 1960.^[1] He helped build the American Museum's mollusc collection into a leading research resource.^[1] He was the first collections manager^{[citation needed]} in malacology at the American Museum of Natural History.

He became a specialist in marine molluscs.^[1] He was extremely devoted to his science and was well known as a shell show judge in many parts of the United States.^[1] He went on several expeditions including ones to the Galapagos and Mexico.^[1]

Old was president of the American Malacological Society from 1978 to 1979, and president of the New York Shell Club from 1963 to 1965.^{[citation needed]}

He died of a heart attack in 1982.^[1]

Bibliography

He authored or co-authored 36 papers.^{[citation needed]} As junior author to William K. Emerson, he named several species of marine mollusks, including:

• Cymatium perryi Emerson & Old, 1963 - a sea snail or marine gastropod

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference ^[1]

1. Abbott R. T. (1983). "William E(rwood) Old, Jr." The Nautilus 97(1): 43-44.
2. Coan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (15 February 2011). 2,400 years of malacology, 8th ed. 2012-11-11 at the Wayback Machine, 936 pp. + 42 pp. [Annex of Collations]. American Malacological Society

Further reading

• Raeihle D. & Emerson W. K. (1983). "In memorium: William Erwood Old Jr., April 14, 1928 - December 31, 1982". American Malacological Bulletin 1: 75–78.
• Raeihle D. & Emerson W. K. (1983). "William Erwood Old Jr. 1928-1982". Of Sea & Shore 13(1): 41-42 [reprinted from New York Shell Club Notes, no. 286, Mar 1983]
• AMNH biography here including photo^{[dead link]}