George Happ -
Training and Professional Activity
As a boy, I wandered the fields and wooded ravines of southwestern
Illinois. Grades 1-8 were 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. I attended grades 4 through 8 in the "upper room" (seen below).
.
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 reseasrch in bird behavior. Instead, due largely to the dynamism of a young faculty member named Tom Eisner, I worked 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
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Principia College: Elsah, Illinois,
Bachelor of Science, 1958 (Biology)
-
Cornell University: Doctor of
Philosophy, 1964 (Animal Physiology with Thomas Eisner).
Click
on photo to enlarge
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Cornell University: Postdoctoral
in Organic Chemistry with Jerrold Meinwald, 1964-65.
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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, 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-present . Principal Investigator/ Project Director, Alaska INBRE, 2001-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 Foundation, 2000- .
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