American naturalist, author and filmmaker
Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr. [a] (October 30, 1907 – December 11, 2001) was an American naturalist, author and filmmaker, president of the Wilson Ornithological Society from 1948 to 1950,[2] a member of the board of directors of the National Audubon Society from 1955 to 1974,[1] and a Life Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union.[1]
Early life
Born October 30, 1907, in Belgrade, Maine, Pettingill attended Bowdoin College, where he developed an interest in ornithology.[1] Studying under zoologist Alfred O. Gross, Pettingill conducted studies of the last three heath hens on Martha's Vineyard in 1927 with Gross and Thornton Burgess.[1]
In 1928, Pettingill enrolled in the University of Michigan, then attended graduate school at Cornell University starting in 1930 – joining the AOU in the same year – where he conducted a PhD dissertation on the American woodcock.[1]
Career
Appointed a delegate to the 12th and 14th International Ornithological Congresses,[1] Pettingill was appointed Director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in 1960, a position he held until his retirement in 1973,[1] and provided footage for four Walt Disney nature films, including the Academy Award-winning The Vanishing Prairie,[1] in addition to making several ornithological films of his own, including works on albatrosses, penguins, and the wildlife of island nations, which often aired as part of Audubon Screen Tours.[3]
Tenured at Carleton College for 17 years,[1] Pettingill taught at the University of Michigan Biological Station for 35 years.[1] Pettingill was awarded birding's highest honor, the Ludlow Griscom Award, in 1982,[1] and also received Cornell's Arthur A. Allen Medal in 1974, and the Eisenmann Medal in 1985.[1] Holding three honorary doctorates in science,[1] Pettingill appeared on both The Today Show and To Tell the Truth.[1]
Death
Pettingill died December 11, 2001, in Bedford, Texas, aged 94.[1]
