Resolution of Respect
                 Eugene P. Odum: Pioneer
                 of Ecosystem Science
                 1913–2002
                    Eugene Pleasants Odum was born
                 17 September 1913 at Lake Sunapee,
                 New Hampshire, where family mem-
                 bers vacationed to escape the sum-
                 mer heat of the South. Eugene spent
                 most of his childhood in Chapel Hill,
                 North Carolina. An early interest in
                 natural history; an influential father,
                 Howard W. Odum, who was a well-
                 known sociologist; and collaboration
                 with his brother, Howard Thomas
                 Odum (whose mentor was G. Evelyn
                 Hutchinson), were influences that
                 helped shape his early thinking and
                 professional growth. Odum perceived
                 early on that ecology had great poten-
                 tial for linking the natural and social
                 sciences. Many scholars feel that one
                 of his greatest contributions was in
                 helping to elevate ecology from a
                 subdiscipline of biology to the inte-
                 grative science that it is today. Based        At the University of Georgia, where        Odum’s contributions to and in-
                 on this perception, he led in the          he spent most of his career, Odum           teractions with the Ecological Society
                 development of a holistic brand of         was primarily responsible for the           of America (ESA) are numerous. For
                 ecology that many called “ecosystem        establishment of the Marine Institute       example, he was honored by the ESA
                 science.” His article entitled “The        on Sapelo Island, the Savannah River        with the Mercer Award in 1956,
                 strategy of ecosystem development,”        Ecology Laboratory, and the Institute       served as Society President in 1964–
                 published in 1969 in Science  164:         of Ecology. The Institute of Ecology        1965, and received ESA’s Eminent
                 262–270, provided a refreshing per-        today is recognized as one of the           Ecologist Award in 1974. More re-
                 spective on systems’ development and       leading institutions in the world for       cently, he helped to establish the ESA
                 regulation.                                training ecologists. Faculty within         Eugene P. Odum Award for teaching
                    In 1953, Eugene P. Odum pub-            the Institute of Ecology have played        excellence in ecology education.
                 lished the first edition of Fundamen-      leading roles in the establishment of          Odum received numerous honors
                 tals of Ecology, a book that helped        the NSF-sponsored LTER Coweeta              during his distinguished career. He
                 to educate generations of ecologists       Hydrologic Laboratory research site         was elected a member of the Na-
                 throughout the world. The second           located in North Carolina, the Horse-       tional Academy of Sciences in 1970
                 edition, published in 1959 in collabo-     shoe Bend teaching and research site        and was named an honorary member
                 ration with his brother, Howard T.         located near the University of Georgia      of  the British Ecological Society in
                 Odum, was wonderfully compelling,          campus, and the Okefenokee Swamp            1974. In 1975, Eugene P. Odum re-
                 was holistic in its approach to both       research site located on the borders        ceived, jointly with his brother
                 terrestrial and aquatic systems, and       of  Georgia and Florida. Odum also          Howard T. Odum, the $80,000 inter-
                 helped to establish ecology as a new       served on the original scientific advi-     national “Institut de la Vie” Prize
                 integrative discipline. The fifth edi-     sory committee that explored the es-        awarded by the French government.
                 tion of Fundamentals of Ecology, co-       tablishment of the Joseph W. Jones          Also in 1975, Odum received the
                 authored with Gary W. Barrett, is          Research Center at Ichauway, located        prestigious Tyler Prize for Environ-
                 planned to be published in 2003.           in southwestern Georgia. (See G. W.         mental Achievement, accompanied by
                 Odum published a dozen other books         Barrett and T. L. Barrett [2001] re-        a $150,000 cash prize, which he con-
                 and over 200 scientific publications       garding Odum’s involvement with             tributed to the University of Georgia
                 during his illustrious career.             each of these facilities.)                  Foundation as an endowment for
                                                                                                               January 2003                 11
              the Institute of Ecology. In addition    The mentor for his doctorate was S.      Literature cited
              to other endowments at the Univer-       Charles Kendeigh.
              sity of Georgia, such as the Odum           Odum remained a vibrant indi-         Barrett, G. W., and T. L. Barrett.
              Chair in Ecology and the Odum An-        vidual and professionally active until       2001. Holistic science: the evolu-
              nual Lecture series, he was essential    his death on 10 August 2002 at the           tion of the Georgia Institute of
              in establishing endowments at the        age of 88. Although he officially “re-       Ecology (1940–2000). Taylor and
              University of North Carolina, the        tired” in 1984, he continued to pub-         Francis, New York, New York,
              University of Virginia, and the Uni-     lish books and scientific publications,      USA.
              versity of Illinois. In 1978, Odum re-   and to give invited lectures at sympo-   Craige, B. J. 2001. Eugene Odum:
              ceived the Distinguished Service Award   sia and special events. (See his biog-       ecosystem ecologist and environ-
              from the American Institute of Bio-      raphy, Eugene Odum: Ecologist and            mentalist. University of Georgia
              logical Sciences. In 1987, with his      Environmentalist by B. J. Craige [2001].)    Press, Athens, Georgia, USA.
              brother Howard, Odum received the        A competitive tennis player in his
              Royal Swedish Academy’s Crafoord         youth, he became a worthy opponent
              Prize, which is often considered to be   on the croquet court in his later years.                      Gary W. Barrett,
              equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Odum      He remained an avid bird watcher and               Odum Professor of Ecology
              has received Distinguished Alumni        enthusiastic gardener. He was a friend                     Institute of Ecology
              awards from both of his alma maters,     to colleagues and students alike, and                    University of Georgia
              the  University of North Carolina        a generous individual whose gifts and                       Athens, GA 30602
              (A.B. 1934, A.M. 1936) and the           wisdom will promote ecology beyond                                     E-mail:
              University of Illinois (Ph.D 1939).      his death.                                 gbarrett@sparrow.ecology.uga.edu
              12               Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America