Tumlison, C. Renn

UARK (University of Arkansas )

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 64 Article 8 2010 In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009 C. Renn Tumlison Henderson State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas Recommended Citation Tumlison, C. Renn (2010) "In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 64 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol64/iss1/8 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu. Arkansas Academy of ScienceJournal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 64, 201025In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009While Dr. Rick McDaniel served as mentor formany Master’s students at Arkansas State University,he also was very active in the Arkansas Academy ofScience and Southwestern Association of Naturalists(SWAN). His students were expected to presentresults of research at meetings of both organizationseach year, and there was never a question of whetherwe would be attending those meetings. As a result, hisstudents became familiar and comfortable with anaspect of professional life that gave us an advantageagainst other graduates seeking employment orentrance to doctoral programs.McDaniel was born 29 October 1945 in SanAntonio, Texas. After earning both his B.S. and M.S.degrees at Texas A & I, he completed his formaleducation at Texas Tech University, receiving thePh.D. in 1973. His doctoral work focused on bats inCentral America, and his interest in chiropteranbiology fostered studies with several of his graduatestudents at ASU. Sometimes he was called the “batmanof Arkansas.”Immediately upon completion of his doctoraldegree in 1973, Dr. McDaniel became an AssistantProfessor of Zoology at ASU, ascended to AssociateProfessor in 1977 and subsequently full Professor anddepartmental chair in 1984. During 1997, he enteredthe ranks of administrators with lengthy titles –beginning with Interim Associate Dean of the Collegeof Arts and Sciences, followed by Associate Dean ofthe College of Arts and Sciences (1998), AssociateVice President for Academic Affairs (2000), InterimVice President for Academic Affairs (also 2000), andfinally Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for AcademicAffairs (2003).Dr. McDaniel’s list of academic accomplishmentsis fairly extensive. Between 1969 and 1999, he was anauthor on 81 publications and articles in a variety ofjournals and project reports, including 35 paperspublished in the Proceedings of the Arkansas Academyof Science. During the same period, he was co-authoron 108 presentations of research, including 69 made atmeetings of the AAS. From 1980 – 1981, he served asnewsletter editor for AAS, and served as editor of theProceedings from 1982–1986.Work on thesis committees resulted in many of Dr.McDaniel’s presentations and publications. He servedon 61 thesis committees (30 of which he chaired), andalthough his research emphasis dealt with biology ofmammals, he also was involved in studies oflimnology, plants, protozoans, insects and otherinvertebrates, and all vertebrate groups. Being agrantee on 31 funded grants for research projectsprovided financial aid for several students.Dr. McDaniel spent many hours at his office andwith his graduate students. Soon after I became agraduate student at ASU, spark plugs fouled in mytruck and he invited me to his house to change them. Itwas a trap. After getting the engine in running order, Iwas obligated to play a few games of ping-pong in hisgarage. He also played racquetball with students, andin the Mammalogy lab there was a nerf basketball goalwhich was used during study breaks to play contrivedword games in which a missed basket provided a letterhint to the genus name of some mystery animal. Heloved a tandem style of fishing Ozark creeks with 1-4students, or fishing from boats in local lakes.Several students went along on weekend cavingtrips, just for the sake of exploring a new and strangesystem. Sometimes a single trip to the unique andbiologically unexplored environment would lead to animportant and publishable discovery.Having retired after a career spanning 35.5 years,Dr. McDaniel was playing golf when he suddenly andunexpectedly died 31 July 2009, at the age of 63. He issurvived by his wife, three sons, five daughters, and 10grandchildren. His academic legacy will beremembered due to his impact on Arkansas StateUniversity, the Academy, and the careers of hisstudents.Renn Tumlison, Department of Biology, Henderson StateUniversity, Arkadelphia, AR 7199925Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 64 [2010], Art. 8Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 2010

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In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009

ScholarWorks@UARK

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 64 Article 82010In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009C. Renn TumlisonHenderson State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasThis article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able toread, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking priorpermission from the publisher or the author.This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the ArkansasAcademy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu.Recommended CitationTumlison, C. Renn (2010) "In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 64 ,Article 8.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol64/iss1/8Arkansas Academy of ScienceJournal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 64, 201025In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009While Dr. Rick McDaniel served as mentor formany Master’s students at Arkansas State University,he also was very active in the Arkansas Academy ofScience and Southwestern Association of Naturalists(SWAN). His students were expected to presentresults of research at meetings of both organizationseach year, and there was never a question of whetherwe would be attending those meetings. As a result, hisstudents became familiar and comfortable with anaspect of professional life that gave us an advantageagainst other graduates seeking employment orentrance to doctoral programs.McDaniel was born 29 October 1945 in SanAntonio, Texas. After earning both his B.S. and M.S.degrees at Texas A & I, he completed his formaleducation at Texas Tech University, receiving thePh.D. in 1973. His doctoral work focused on bats inCentral America, and his interest in chiropteranbiology fostered studies with several of his graduatestudents at ASU. Sometimes he was called the “batmanof Arkansas.”Immediately upon completion of his doctoraldegree in 1973, Dr. McDaniel became an AssistantProfessor of Zoology at ASU, ascended to AssociateProfessor in 1977 and subsequently full Professor anddepartmental chair in 1984. During 1997, he enteredthe ranks of administrators with lengthy titles –beginning with Interim Associate Dean of the Collegeof Arts and Sciences, followed by Associate Dean ofthe College of Arts and Sciences (1998), AssociateVice President for Academic Affairs (2000), InterimVice President for Academic Affairs (also 2000), andfinally Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for AcademicAffairs (2003).Dr. McDaniel’s list of academic accomplishmentsis fairly extensive. Between 1969 and 1999, he was anauthor on 81 publications and articles in a variety ofjournals and project reports, including 35 paperspublished in the Proceedings of the Arkansas Academyof Science. During the same period, he was co-authoron 108 presentations of research, including 69 made atmeetings of the AAS. From 1980 – 1981, he served asnewsletter editor for AAS, and served as editor of theProceedings from 1982–1986.Work on thesis committees resulted in many of Dr.McDaniel’s presentations and publications. He servedon 61 thesis committees (30 of which he chaired), andalthough his research emphasis dealt with biology ofmammals, he also was involved in studies oflimnology, plants, protozoans, insects and otherinvertebrates, and all vertebrate groups. Being agrantee on 31 funded grants for research projectsprovided financial aid for several students.Dr. McDaniel spent many hours at his office andwith his graduate students. Soon after I became agraduate student at ASU, spark plugs fouled in mytruck and he invited me to his house to change them. Itwas a trap. After getting the engine in running order, Iwas obligated to play a few games of ping-pong in hisgarage. He also played racquetball with students, andin the Mammalogy lab there was a nerf basketball goalwhich was used during study breaks to play contrivedword games in which a missed basket provided a letterhint to the genus name of some mystery animal. Heloved a tandem style of fishing Ozark creeks with 1-4students, or fishing from boats in local lakes.Several students went along on weekend cavingtrips, just for the sake of exploring a new and strangesystem. Sometimes a single trip to the unique andbiologically unexplored environment would lead to animportant and publishable discovery.Having retired after a career spanning 35.5 years,Dr. McDaniel was playing golf when he suddenly andunexpectedly died 31 July 2009, at the age of 63. He issurvived by his wife, three sons, five daughters, and 10grandchildren. His academic legacy will beremembered due to his impact on Arkansas StateUniversity, the Academy, and the careers of hisstudents.Renn Tumlison, Department of Biology, Henderson StateUniversity, Arkadelphia, AR 7199925Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 64 [2010], Art. 8Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 2010

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In Memoriam: Van Rick McDaniel, 1945-2009

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