George Happ -
Training and Professional Activity
As a boy, I wandered the fields and wooded ravines of southwestern
Illinois. Grades 1-8 were spent in a two-room school in a small village on the Mississippi
River. The school was constructed from limestone blocks that had been quarried only a mile away in the 18th century. I attended grades 4 through 8 in the "upper room" (seen to the right).
My high school years were spent as a boarder in St. Louis. At Principia
College, I studied natural history and ecology. When I went to graduate school at Cornell University,
I expected to pursue graduate research in bird behavior. Instead, due largely to the dynamism of a young faculty member named Tom Eisner, I was introduced to evolution, behavior, and physiology of insects. After faculty
appointments in Washington, D.C., New York City, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Burlington,
Vermont, I became affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1994.
Education
-
Principia College: Elsah, Illinois,
Bachelor of Science, 1958 (Biology). Senior Honors Thesis: "An ethogram of the American Robin"
-
Cornell University: Doctor of
Philosophy, 1964 in Animal Physiology with Thomas Eisner. Doctoral committee included Howard Schneiderman, Ari van Tienhoven, William Dilger, and William Brown. Howard E. Evans was an informal adviser as well.
-
Cornell University: Postdoctoral
in Organic Chemistry with Jerrold Meinwald, 1964-65.
-
University of California San Diego:
Participant in NSF-UCSD Workshop in "Molecular Techniques for Developmental
Biology", 1974.
Professional Appointments
- Catholic University of America:
Assistant Professor of Biology, 1965-1967.
- New York University: Assistant/Associate
Professor of Biology (tenured), 1967-1972.
- Colorado State University: Associate
Professor/Professor of Zoology and Entomology, College of Natural Sciences,
1972-1978. Joint appointment in Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College
of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Chairman, Faculty of Cellular
and Molecular Biology, 1976-78.
- University of Vermont: Professor
of Zoology/Biology 1978 - 1996 (Chair, 1978-1995; Professor Emeritus, 1996-present);
State Project Director,
Vermont EPSCoR, 1990-1995, Director, Howard Hughes Program for Life Science
Excellence (HELiX), 1989-1995; Vice Provost for Research, 1990-1991; Special
Presidential Assistant for Federal Affairs, 1991-1994.
- University of Arizona: Visiting
Professor of Biochemistry, 1985 (sabbatical leave).
- University of Alaska Fairbanks:
Visiting Professor of Animal Physiology, 1994-95 (sabbatical leave); Principal
Research Associate, Institute of Arctic Biology and
Department of Biology and Wildlife, 1995-97;
Research Professor Institute
of Arctic Biology, 1997-present; State Project Director, Alaska EPSCoR, 1999-2007; Special Assistant
to the President for Research Progrem Development; 2000-2008 Principal Investigator/ Project Director, Alaska INBRE, 2001-2009; Research Professor Emeritus, Institute of Arctic Biology, 2010-present.
Honors and Awards
- Bachelor of Science with highest honors, 1958
- Graduate Fellowships
- Woodrow Wilson National Graduate Fellowship, 1958-59
- NSF Cooperative Graduate Fellowship, 1959-1960
- NSF Graduate Fellowship, 1961
- Sigma Xi-RESA Grant, Summer, 1961
- NIH Predoctoral Fellowship, 1962-64
- NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1964-65
- Sigma Xi (NYU Chapter) Award for Distinguished Research,
1970
- Secretary, Section A, Entomological Society of America, 1970
- Resident Faculty Fellow, Julius Silver Hall (NYU), 1970-71
- Vice-Chairman, Section A, Entomological Society of America,
1971
- Secretary-Treasurer, NYU Chapter of Sigma Xi, 1971-72
- Chairman, Section A. Entomological Society of America, 1972
- Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Natural Sciences,
Colorado State University, 1975, 1976
- University Scholar Award (Biological Sciences), University
of Vermont 1982.
- Senior Visiting Research Scientist, Sericultural Research
Station, Japan Department of Agriculture, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 1988.
- Competitive Grant Review Panel, USDA, 1988.
- Graduate Fellowship Review Panel, Howard Hughes Medical Institute,
1991, 1993, 1994.
- Member of the Board and Treasurer of the EPSCoR Coalition,
1994-5.
- Member of the Board of the EPSCoR Coalition and/or Foundation, 2000-2010 .
Research and Program Grants Awarded
- NIH - National Center for Research Resources "Alaska INBRE-2: Environmental Agents and Infectious Disease", 2009-2014 $17.8M.
- NIH - National Center for Research Resources SEPA "Biomedical Partnership for Research Education Pipeline (Alaska BioPREP)", 2008-2012 $1.345M
- NIH-NIAID - CRISAR (Center for Rapid Influenza Surveillance and Research), 2007-2009 ~$650K/year; J. Runsdtadler is UAF Co-PI.
- USDA-CSREES - AICAP (Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project), 2006-2007 ~$725K, Co-PI.
- NIH - NIAID - WWAMI-Biodefense Research Center for Excellence; Sam Miller, Univ Washington School of Medicine, PI; Seed grant subaward $75K.
- NIH - National Center for Research Resources "Alaska INBRE: Toxicogenomics
and Infectious Agents", 2004-2009 $17.4M.
- NSF "Alaska EPSCoR Infrastructure Improvement Program", 2004-2007 $9M federal, $4.5M State of Alaska.
NIH-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, "The Ecology of Francisella tularensis in Alaska" 2004-2006 ($100K), pilot research proposal through the University of Washington School of Medicine. 
The Canine Health
Foundation of the American Kennel Club, "Genetic
Deteriminants of Susceptibility to Hypothyroid Disease in Dogs",
2003-2005, $62K (with Dr. W.E.R. Ollier and Lorna Kenndy of the University
of Manchester, UK).- DOD "A Planning Proposal for Alaska EPSCoR", 2003-2004 $30K
- NIH-National Center for Research Resources "Alaska BRIN: Toxicogenomics and Native Subsistence Species", 2001-2004 $6M; Supplement, 2002-2004 $2.5M; Administrative Supplement, 2003-2004 $300K.
- The University of
Alaska Natural Resource Fund - "Histocompatibility Loci
of Alaskan Mammals", 1999-2001, $25K
- NSF "Alaska
EPSCoR Infrastructure Improvement Program", 2001-2003 $9M federal,
$4M State of Alaska, $500K Alaska Science and Technology Foundation; Supplement,
$300K, 2002-2003.
- DOD "A
Planning Proposal for Alaska EPSCoR", 2000-2001 $33K
- NSF "A
Planning Proposal for Alaska EPSCoR", 1999-2001 $263K
- Doberman
Foundation of North America - " Genetics of Autoimmune
Thyroiditis in Doberman Pinschers", 1997-2001, $20K (with Drs. Leslie
Fox and Janet Wojciechowski of the University of Florida).
- Ralston Purina
Company - "A Clinical Trial of Glutamine Supplementation
in Working Sled Dogs", 1997-99, $55K.
- Morris Animal Foundation
- "Genetics of Autoimmune Thyroiditis in Doberman Pinschers",
1997-2001, $72K (with Drs. Leslie Fox and Janet Wojciechowski of the University
of Florida).
- The University
of Alaska President's Special Projects Fund - "Genetics
of Autoimmune Thyroiditis in Dogs", 1996-97, $2K.
- The Iams Company
- "Genetics of Canine Hypothyroidism",
1993-95, $20K.
- DOD "VT-EPSCoR Planning Grant", 1993-94 $75K.
- DOE "VT-EPSCoR DOE Planning Grant Proposal: Vermont Energy
R&D; Infrastructure Improvement Plan" 1991-1992 $100K.
- EPA "VT-EPSCoR Plan for Improvement of Environmental Research"
1991-92, $100K.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute - "The
HELiX Undergraduate Program", 1989-1994, $1M
- NSF "Vermont
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research" $2.5M (1987-1991),
$25K (1991-92), $4.45M (1993-1997). Instate resources matched the federal
contribution
- .NIH-National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01-AI 15662), "Control
of Reproductive Maturation: An Insect Model", 1977-1993 ca. $150K/year
.
- USDA Competitive
Grant, "Control of Reproduction in Male Insects",
1987-1990, $150K.
- USDA Competitive
Grant, "Control of Reproduction of Gypsy Moths",
1987-1988, $50K.
- NIH-National Institute
of General Medical Science (R01-GM 26140 & R01-GM 21711), "Exocrine
Glands: Models of Differentiative Transitions," 1975-1986, ca. $75K/year.
- NSF (GB 36284)-
"Symbioses of bark beetle and fungus", 1971-73, ca. $50K/year..
- U.S. Public Health
Service (CC-00343), "Chemical Communication in Arthropods,"
1967-68 $47K/year.
Teaching Experience
Courses taught at Catholic University of America (CUA), New York University (NYU), Colorado State University (CSU), University of Vermont (UVM), University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
- General Biology (NYU)
- General Zoology (CSU)
- Mammalian Anatomy/Physiology (UVM)
- Insect Physiology (CUA, NYU, UVM)
- Comparative Invertebrate Physiology (NYU, CSU)
- Animal Physiology (CUA, NYU, CSU, UVM)
- Cell Biology (CSU, UVM, UAF)
- Advanced Cell Biology (CSU, UVM)
- guest lecturer in other courses including Animal Behavior, Genetics
- various graduate and undergraduate seminars