Waldo Lee McAtee

Early life and education Waldo Lee McAtee was born on January 21, 1883, in Jalapa, Indiana. McAtee was a student at Indiana University Bloomington from 1900 to 1906, majoring in Biology and Zoology. He earned his Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in 1904 and his Master of Arts (A.M.) in 1906. McAtee was a very active student at Indiana University Bloomington. He served as curator for the Indiana University Bloomington Zoological Museum, where his duties included classifying specimens. When professors were absent, McAtee was often called upon to teach science classes such as Embryology. He was also an active participant in Indiana University. athletic events, particularly football games. McAtee served as a yell leader over a group called the "Howling Hundred", where he rallied students to attend games and even wrote fight songs to taunt the opposing team. During his studies, McAtee spent a summer working in Washington, D.C. rearranging a collection of North American and Mexican bird specimens. This summer job introduced McAtee to members of the United States Department of Agriculture, who offered him a position while he was still an undergraduate.

Career McAtee served his professional career from 1904 to 1947 with the Bureau of Biological Survey of the US Department of Agriculture, and later in the successor agency, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. He studied birds and their feeding habits. McAtee helped develop the Division of Food Habits Research within the Bureau of Biological Survey and served as its first director. Along with this duty, he served as the editor of the technical publications of the Biological Survey team. In 1935, McAtee created an abstracting service for scientific publications which was called "Wildlife Review". His work helped him gain worldwide acclaim as a biologist and ornithologist. McAtee's research was also influential in helping to establish many of the nation's bird protection laws.

In addition to his scientific interests, McAtee was interested in folklore and poetry. He researched folk speech and folk remedies of the settlers of Indiana and published some papers on his research. McAtee published a collection of his poetry in a pamphlet entitled "Verses".

Retirement and death McAtee retired in 1947 and lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina until he died from stomach cancer on January 7, 1962, at the age of 78.

Honors and awards McAtee received numerous honors and awards throughout his career. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior for his scientific accomplishments. In 1938, McAtee was named one of the 130 zoologists to be "starred" in the magazine "American Men of Science", having been voted by his colleagues as an outstanding scientist in the field. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union. In June 1961, McAtee received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from his alma mater Indiana University.