1913-1997
Albert Potter, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Teaching, passed away on December 7, 1997, at the Cedar Falls Lutheran Home. Al attended a one room school through the eighth grade. Later, he attended the University of Nebraska for three years and graduated from Chadron State Teachers College. He earned his master's degree from the University of Iowa. Al's interest in science began during his childhood days in Nebraska. He began collecting fossils for the University of Nebraska State Museum when he was 16 years old. He also worked for the Frick Paleontological Laboratory at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and was a member of the 1941 expedition to Honduras for the Field Museum of Natural History. He collected for the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and was a member of the 1948 original investigation of the Lubbock Reservoir archeological site. Al was a charter member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and had the fossil species Pseudoceros potteri named in his honor. Al retired from UNI after 32 years of teaching. He served as chair of the Price Laboratory School Science Department and taught biology and seventh grade science. His leadership played a key role in assisting PLS Science Department faculty in their grant and curriculum development efforts. A scholarship memorial fund has been established at the UNI Foundation to support graduates of Northern University High School in their pursuit of science careers.