Charles Henry Gilbert

Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western United States. He collected and studied fishes from Central America north to Alaska and described many new species. Later he became an expert on Pacific salmon and was a noted conservationist of the Pacific Northwest. He is considered by many as the intellectual founder of American fisheries biology.^[1,2] He was one of the 22 "pioneer professors" (founding faculty) of Stanford University.

Born in Rockford, Illinois, Gilbert spent his early years in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he came under the influence of his high school teacher, David Starr Jordan (1851‒1931). When Jordan became Professor of Natural History at Butler University in Indianapolis, Gilbert followed and received his B.A. degree in 1879. Jordan moved to Indiana University, in Bloomington, in the fall of 1879, and Gilbert again followed, receiving his M.S. degree in 1882 and Ph.D. in 1883. His doctorate was the first such degree ever awarded by Indiana University.^[2,3]

Little is known about Gilbert's personal life.^[4,5,6] His wife, Julia Ringold Hughes (born December 6, 1849, Bloomington, Indiana) was a student at Indiana University and became superintendent of high schools in Bloomington. She died in California on November 30, 1916. There were three children, Carl (1891‒1963), Winnifred (Mrs. Carl F. Braun, 1886‒1980), and Ruth (Mrs. Percy R. Baker, 1885‒1982), all of whom graduated from Stanford University.^[2,7,8]

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