Rettenmeyer, Carl W.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Carl was born in Meriden, Connecticut in 1931. He graduated from Swarthmore College and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1962. He was on the faculty of Kansas State University for close to 11 years before becoming a Professor at the University of Connecticut in 1971. He served as Head of the Section of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology from 1980 to 1983, and then as Executive Officer of the Biological Sciences Group from 1983 to 1985. His role as a teacher changed, and expanded, through serving as the Founding Director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. It opened in 1985 and the following year Carl retired from his academic faculty position to devote more time to building up and promoting the museum. It was through Carl’s persistent efforts that the Museum became a major focus of public outreach beyond the boundaries of the University.

For many decades Carl was the authority on new World Army ants. He authored and co-authored numerous scientific papers about social insects that still serve as foundational papers for our current understanding of army ant biology. His insect photography, and the techniques he used, were cutting edge for his time and his outstanding pictures were published in many books and magazine articles. One of his final scientific contributions was the production of two DVD's about army ant biology. http://www.armyantbiology.com/

TAXONOMIC PUBLICATIONS

 * Rettenmeyer, C. W. 1974. Description of the queen and male with some biological notes on the army ant, Eciton rapax. Pp. 291-302 in: Beard, R. L. (ed.) Connecticut Entomological Society 25th Anniversary Memoirs. New Haven: Connecticut Entomological Society, 322 pp.