Graham Fairchild | |
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| Born | Alexander Graham Bell Fairchild (1906-08-17)August 17, 1906 |
| Died | February 10, 1994(1994-02-10) (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Entomologist |
| Spouse | Elva Russell Whitman (after 1938) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | David Fairchild Marian Hubbard Bell |
| Relatives | Alexander Graham Bell (grandfather) |
Alexander Graham Bell Fairchild (August 17, 1906 – February 10, 1994[1])[2] was an Americanentomologist, and a member of theFairchild family, descendants of Thomas Fairchild ofStratford,Connecticut and one of two grandsons of the scientist and inventor,Alexander Graham Bell, for whom he was named, and son ofDavid Fairchild, abotanist and plant explorer.
Alexander ("Sandy" to his friends and family) was born in 1906 inWashington, D.C. Like most entomologists, Fairchild began his lifelong love affair with insects by collectingbutterflies in the fields and barns where he lived. At the age of 15, now an avid butterfly collector, young Fairchild was first introduced to the intensely fecund, immensely complex world of theAmerican ("New World") tropical forests by his father, who was helping with starting the Barro Colorado Tropical Research Station in Panama. After a long canoe ride up theChagres River inPanama, he became permanently hooked on thetropics. After a number of magical years travelling with his plant collector father to the jungles ofSri Lanka,Sumatra, andIndonesia, Sandy reluctantly finished high school at age 20, to then attendHarvard, graduating in 1931, in the depths of theGreat Depression.
With few to no jobs available, Sandy began working toward aPh.D. inbiology atHarvard. Encouraged by his faculty advisor, Professor Joseph Bequaert, Fairchild chose theTabanidae, a family of insects known as "horse flies". Tabanids are worldwide, numerous, and taxonomically complex. Since some feed on humans and thus may carry diseases, Fairchild realized this specialty could get him a job in the tropics. Since he first fell in love with the tropics in Panama, he wrote histhesis, naturally, on the Tabanidae of Panama.
After a year in Northwest Brazil, studying mosquitos with theRockefeller Foundation he landed his dream job in Panama at the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory now known as theInstituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud. At 32, he moved to Panama with his bride Elva Russell Whitman of Boston, to there raise a family and research biting insects and ticks deemed threatening to the thousands of Americans living at the time in thePanama Canal Zone. He eventually became Assistant, then Acting Director of that research facility inTropical medicine, funded both byCongress and the Republic of Panamá. He published his research ontaxonomy andepidemiology, in over 130 scientific papers and books. In recognition of his 32 years of work on Panamanian insects, in 1978 theUniversidad de Panamá named their new Invertebrate Museum in his honor.
After retiring, Sandy and his wife Elva (whom he married in 1938)[3] moved toGainesville,Florida, where for the next 25 years, he continued to publish papers and advise graduate students and fellow scientists around the world. In retirement and without pay, he organized the collections of Neotropical Tabanidae at theUniversity of Florida and later at the Florida State Collection of Arthropods. Among the numerous honors he was given during his lifetime, he was proudest of having been named by theAmerican Entomological Society as Entomologist of the Year.
Sandy continued working up until a week before he died, at the age of 87. At last count, over 33 species of insects have been named after him by other entomologists.
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