Richard (Dick) Cooper Dugdale

Richard (Dick) Cooper Dugdale
(February 6, 1928 - January 21, 2026)

It is with great sadness that we honor the passing of Richard (“Dick”) Dugdale, almost 98 years old, on 21 January 2026 in Marin County, California.

Dick was born in Madison, Wisconsin to Esther and Bryan Dugdale, and grew up during the Great Depression. Repairing radios for neighbors instilled engineering and troubleshooting skills that he would later call upon when fixing complex scientific instrumentation, often while at sea.

After earning his B.S. in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in Zoology and Botany, and Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, he became a globally recognized pioneer in the nascent field of oceanography. Over his seven-decade career, he led groundbreaking research in biogeochemistry, mentored generations of graduate students, and held leadership roles at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Washington, University of Southern California, Bigelow Institute for Ocean Sciences, and the Estuary and Ocean Science Center (Tiburon, CA). While several of his early papers on “new production” were among the most cited in their field, he continued publishing on topics including nutrient levels in SF Bay until his passing. He was elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the CA Academy of Sciences, granted an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Marseille (where he had many collaborators), and awarded the prestigious Hutchinson Award by the Association for Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.

As a young man, Dick took up guitar and was an avid fan of Pete Seeger. He climbed and skied the Tetons with UW’s Hoofers Club. He learned to sail on Lake Mendota and later owned several classic wood sailboats. There were many cruises in Puget Sound and blustery days racing on SF Bay (with the SF Master Mariners). He was part-owner (with archeologist Peter Throckmorton) of the 56-foot wooden schooner Stormie Seas, outfitted for research, in the Mediterranean. An oceanographic cruise and year in Athens for a Fulbright Fellowship cemented Dick’s love for Greece, where he built a stone farmhouse on the Cycladic island of Paros to which the family decamp each summer. A Greek music fan and life-long learner, he later took up playing the Greek bouzouki. Dick knew how to enjoy life (everything in moderation!), even up to his last days.

Dick was preceded in death by former spouses Vera Alexander and Jane MacIsaac. He is survived by wife Frances Wilkerson, sister Donna Fortin, children Graham (& Elizabeth), Elizabeth Alexander, Alexis (& Amy), and Nicholas (& Stephanie), grandchildren Celia (& Rob), Everett (& Kara), Zoe (& Neilan), Sophia, and Luke, and his scientific extended family across the globe. Celebrations of life in both California and Paros are being planned.