Ralph Works Chaney
1890-1971
Chaney was born in Brainerd, Illinois on August 24, 1890 to Fred and Laura Chaney. After graduating from Hyde Park High School, Chaney taught in South Dakota briefly then enrolled at the University of Chicago in 1908. During his undergraduate study, Chaney worked with the well known ornithologist Charles Otis Whitman, yet shifted his interest to geology and finally paleobotany. He received his bachelor of science in 1912 and enrolled as a graduate student. However in 1914 he left and began teaching science in Chicago's Frances W. Parker School until 1917. After a trip to the Columbia River Gorge, Chaney discovered his interest in Tertiary paleobotany and completed his Ph.D in 1919, later he also received an honorary D.Sci. from the University of Oregon in 1944. From 1917 to 1918 Chaney was an instructor of geology at the University of Iowa, then from 1918 to1922 he was an associate professor of geology. In 1922, he left to become a research associate at the Carnegie Institution at the request of Berkeley paleontologist J.C. Merriam. Shortly thereafter, he embarked on several collecting expeditions to Mongolia, China, Philippines, Korea, and Japan; Chaney continued researching in East Asia throughout his career. In 1931, Chaney became professor of paleobotany at the University of California, Berkeley a position which he retained until 1957.
At the University of Chicago, Chaney met Marguerite Seeley from Kentucky. Together they raised three children and at the time of his death, Chaney had nine grandchildren.
Professionally Chaney was a member of the paleontological Society of America, served as president in 1939, and was awarded the paleontological Society Medal in 1970. He held leadership roles in the following societies: Geological Society of America (fellow, vice president) and chairman of the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America; he received the Merit Award from the Botanical Society of America in 1956. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, Paleontological Society of Japan, California Academy of Sciences, Botanical Society of Japan, Theta Tau, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Gamma Alpha.
Chaney is also remembered for his activity in conservation efforts, particularly the Save-the Redwoods League, where he was active for 40 years and served as president for 10. During this time the league raised over eight million dollars for preservation and oversaw the establishment of the Redwood National Park. For his efforts Chaney received the U.S. Department of the Interior distinguished Service Award, honorary life membership to the Sierra Club, and was honored through the naming of the Ralph Works Chaney Memorial Redwood Grove in northern California.
Ralph Works Chaney became an emeritus professor in 1957, yet maintained close ties to the paleobotany program at Berkeley and his colleagues in Asia until his death on March 3, 1971.
For more information on Ralph W. Chaney visit the following websites:
http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/CHAN1890.htm
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/about/history/lipps5.php
http://www.archive.org/stream/paleobotanistcons00chanrich/paleobotanistcons00chanrich_djvu.txt