James Findley

James Smith Findley



Dr. James Smith Findley died at his home in Corrales New Mexico surrounded by his wife, children and grand-children on Saturday, May 20th, 2018 at 11:22 p.m. Jim died with dignity, peace and a lot of love. He was predeceased by his eldest son Stuart in 2015.

Jim was born in Cleveland Ohio on December 28th, 1926. His great love of nature brought him to his first job at the Natural History Museum of Cleveland when he was a teenager. He was drafted into the United States Army and served during WWll.

After the war he began his education in biology at Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio where he met his wife-to-be in Cryptogamic Botany class in 1948. He married Helen Muriel Thomson in 1949 and they moved into a tent in Moran Wyoming where he did research on mammals for a grant project. He finished his Bachelors degree in biology at WRU. During his studies at WRU his first son Stuart was born in 1950.

The little family moved to Lawrence Kansas where Jim attended Kansas University where he was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. During his graduate studies at KU his first daughter Heidi was born in 1952. After earning his doctorate Jim and Tommie moved the family to Vermillion South Dakota where he taught biology at the University of South Dakota. While there, the University of New Mexico invited him to apply for an opening as an assistant professor in the biology department. Dr. Findley began teaching at the University of New Mexico in 1955, the year his second son Douglas was born. Soon after, his second daughter Joan was born in 1959.

In his nearly four decade long distinguished career at the University of New Mexico (1955 to 1993), Dr. James S. Findley made outstanding contributions to the Museum of Southwestern Biology (Director and Curator) and Biology Department (Professor and Chair). One would be hard pressed to find another individual in UNM's more than 125 years of existence who has had a larger impact on program development and student mentoring at all levels. Dr. Findley inspired many undergraduate students in his courses in Vertebrate Biology, Mammalogy, Tropical Biology, and Ecology. He guided and graduated 26 doctoral and 34 master's degree students, many of whom then developed extremely distinguished careers in academia, governmental agencies and business. He published more than 100 scientific papers on mammals, was awarded the first National Science Foundation grant ever won by UNM, was awarded the Leopold Conservation Award for his significant contributions to the conservation of the natural heritage in New Mexico and built a prominent research program that was recognized nationally by the American Society of Mammalogists (C. Hart Merriam Award). He also served as President of the American Society of Mammalogists. As Biology Department Chair, he oversaw critical faculty hires that set the stage for UNM's international recognition in excellence in Ecology and Evolution. During his chairmanship, Jim and Tommie started a worldwide study of coral reef fish, which continued for ten years until after his retirement. Importantly, he was also key to turning the Museum of Southwestern Biology into one of the pre-eminent university-based natural history museums in the United States. In particular, the Division of Mammals that he essentially initiated and curated for nearly 25 years has now become the third largest mammal collection worldwide. After retirement, Dr. Findley stayed active publishing a major monograph (Birds in Corrales), writing columns regularly for a Corrales based newspaper, and studying shrews in the Jemez Mountains that will likely add yet another species to the Mammals of New Mexico. The column Dr. Findley wrote was called the Nature of Corrales. His family is working on a posthumous publication of a compilation of those stories.

Dr. Findley's encyclopedic knowledge of biology was matched by his great love of nature and his greater love of his family.

His family called Dr. James Smith Findley "Pa". He is greatly loved and will be missed by his wife of sixtyâ€"nine years, three surviving children, eight grand-children and thirteen great-grand children, two in the oven and countless students.

The Dali Lama said, "Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality."

For an in depth article about the professional life of Dr. Findley, see the classified ad in this newspaper under Personal titled "Dr. James S Findley". There you will find what to do in lieu of flowers and other interesting information about this great man.

We love you Pa.