Giles W. Mead Jr (b. 1928, d. 2003) was an Americanichthyologist and museum curator who was the director of theNatural History Museum of Los Angeles County in the 1970s. He gained his doctorate fromStanford University before going on to work at theUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service as a fish taxonomist. He then worked at theSmithsonian Institution before moving toHarvard University, where he was the curator of fishes at the Museum of Comparative Zoology and a professor of biology.[1]
Giles W. Mead was born on February 5, 1928, in New York City. His father was Giles W. Mead, a co-founder ofUnion Carbide, and his mother was Elise. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1935.[2] He gained hisBachelor's in 1949,Master's in 1952 andPh.D. in 1953 from Stanford University, while also working at theBureau of Commercial Fisheries. While studying for his post-graduate degrees, he joined a group of ichthyology andherpetology students who were being taught byGeorge S. Myers in the university's Natural History Museum.[3]
Mead successfully completed his doctorate in 1953, after which he joined theBCF Laboratory, Woods Hole, although his time at BCF was interrupted by a short period of enlistment in the U.S. Army atFort Detrick, Maryland. After the Army, he returned to the BCF at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., replacingIsaac Ginsburg as a fish taxonomist. He occupied this post for 4 years before moving to Harvard, where from 1960 to 1970 he was the curator of fishes and a professor of biology. He left Harvard to return to Los Angeles as director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. In this spot, he successfully fought the museum's corner in opposition toProposition 13. He also oversaw the addition of a new wing to the museum and the opening of a new branch of the museum at theLa Brea Tar Pits. He resigned from that post in 1978.[3]
Mead retired to the Mead Ranch, where the Mead family had held property since 1913, in theNapa Valley following his resignation from the museum. He continued to be active, interested inoenology,Cabernet Sauvignon andZinfandel are grown on the 1,300 acres (530 ha) ranch. He also became interested in conservation, and in 1990 the ranch was placed under aconservation easement.[2] He was also active, through the family foundation, theGiles W. and Elise G. Mead Foundation, in supporting conservation efforts in thePacific Northwest and in research and civic support. Through the Mead Foundation, he supported an international conference on thesystematics of the fishes belonging to theOrderGadiformes. Other projects supported includeFrogfishes of the World byT. W. Pietsch andDavid B. Grobecker. published in 1987, andASIH Special Publication No. 3,Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology by Pietsch andWilliam D. Anderson Jr..[3]
Mead was married and divorced three times and had three daughters and two sons.[2] He was a collector of Native American textiles andEscher prints. He also added to his father's collections of Japanesenetsukes and spectacular minerals. He was also a book collector, especially of natural history titles, basing his collection around the collection ofWilliam Beebe, which Mead had purchased.[3]
Mead died on 13 February 2003 at the Mead Ranch. The majority of his book collection was donated to the Los Angeles County Museum, with many of the most valuable books being donated to theHuntington Library.[3]
Mead was honored in the names of the following taxa:[4]