Jean H. Langenheim

1925 - 2021

Jean H. Langenheim
September 5, 1925 - March 28, 2021
Santa Cruz
Jean H. Langenheim, UCSC Professor Emerita passed away on March 28, 2021. She was born September 5, 1925 in Homer Louisiana and was the only child of Jeanette and Virgil Harmon. During her early years, the family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where Jean graduated from high school in 1943 and from the University of Tulsa with Highest Honors in 1946.
As a young woman, she was athletic, and enjoyed tennis, ice skating and hiking. Throughout her youth she had an interest in natural history, especially regarding plants and geology. She expanded these interests by attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where she studied with W.S. Cooper, one of the leading plant ecologists and geobotanists of the time. She earned her PhD in 1953. In the early 1960s, Jean became a Scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Studies and a Research Fellow in the Biological Laboratories at Harvard University. Jean was a pioneering ecologist, geologist, botanist, and chemist, combining disciplines to produce ground-breaking research in several ecosystems, ranging from the tropics to the arctic and including our local redwoods. She came to UCSC in 1966, the second year after its founding, and was the only woman in UCSC's natural sciences until the mid 1970's. She was the first female promoted to full professor at UCSC, and garnered acclaim and respect from her colleagues in a male-dominated profession. She was the world's foremost authority on tree resins and amber. She traveled all over the world for her studies and survived encounters with guerilla fighters in Colombia, suspicious police in East Germany, malaria, and a near-sighted tree sloth that mistook her for a tree and tried to climb her. She officially retired from UCSC in 1994. During her retirement she published several major syntheses of research on amber and chemical ecology.
Jean was a dedicated teacher. She sponsored more than forty graduate students and mentored several post-doctoral fellows and visiting scholars from all over the world. Jean never had children and so her graduate students became her family. She managed to fuse students from China, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States into a cohesive group, fostering life-long friendships. She took pleasure in meeting people, understanding other cultures, and acquiring new skills and languages. Learning never stopped; she read constantly, embraced technology, was an accomplished chef, and a good photographer. She worked tirelessly to assure her students had research grants or teaching assistantships so they could have income while studying. Perhaps her best quality was the example she posed to young women in science, and her willingness to share advice on how to succeed.
Jean is survived by many close friends, students and colleagues who will miss the many letters written by Jean, always remembering their birthday, and always sending a Christmas greeting. She loved animals, especially cats. Her last feline companion, Mr. Tux, died only a month before Jean passed away. In honor of her many cat companions, Jean established an endowment fund known as "Blackie's Senior Friends", a program of the Santa Cruz SPCA that matches older animals with seniors in the community. Her lab family and friends will miss Jean's energy, intelligence, and her blue eyes twinkling as she told stories about her adventures. Her students and friends were blessed to be the beneficiaries of her generous spirit. A memorial service is yet to be determined. Contributions may be made to Blackies Senior Friends at the Santa Cruz SPCA.


View the online memorial for Jean H. Langenheim