- Born
- Died
- Richard G. Van Gelder was born on December 17, 1928. He died on February 23, 1994 in Westwood, New Jersey, USA.
- A specialist in the areas of taxonomy and evolution.
- His romance with animals started when he was 7 and led to his becoming one of the youngest curators of the American Museum of Natural History, joining the museum in 1956 when he was hired as an assistant curator at 27, while he was a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, an unusually young age for a member of the museum's scientific staff. Museum executives recalled that he first applied for a position when he was 10, after spending several years prowling the museum's halls and making a general nuisance of himself by badgering the curators with questions.
- Was a member of the Endangered and Non-Game Species Council, an advisory group to the New York State government.
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