Garland Edward Allen III

With sadness we share the passing of MBL Society member and former Trustee Garland (Gar) Allen who died on February 10, 2023 at the age of 86. The MBL flag will be lowered in his memory.

Garland Allen was professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis where his primary interest was the history and philosophy of biology. In 1987 Professor Allen and Jane Maienschein organized a History of Biology course at the MBL as part of the laboratory’s centennial celebration. The course evolved into an annual week-long seminar that Professor Allen organized, taught, and participated in for more than two decades. The seminar continues today.

Professor Allen served as a MBL Trustee from 1987 to 1993 and was Library Reader and Society member staring in the 1960s. He authored several books including Matter, Energy, and Life, Life Sciences in the Twentieth Century, and Thomas Hunt Morgan: The Man and his Science.

Professor Allen is survived by his husband, Larry Bennett; his daughters, Carin Allen and Tania Allen; and four grandchildren. His family is in the process of establishing the Gar Allen Memorial Scholarship at Washington University, and the biology department is setting up a new prize for a graduating senior in his name. See obituary notice here.