Murray Newman (zoologist)

Murray A. Newman (1924 – March 18, 2016) was an American-born Canadian public aquarium director, curator and zoologist. He served as the founding director of the Vancouver Aquarium for 37 years, from 1955 until his retirement in 1993.[1] Newman oversaw the opening of the Vancouver Aquarium in June 1956.[1] During his tenure, Newman championed research and conservation, areas that had not previously been a priority by staff at other aquariums.[1] Newman, who had a firm interest in the Canadian Arctic, created field expeditions and research programs in the country's Far North which continue to the present day.[1]

Newman was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He received a bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of Chicago and a master's degree, also in zoology, from the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his thesis on the social behavior of brook trout and rainbow trout.[1][2] He was hired as a museum zoologist as the University of California, Los Angeles after he completed his master's degree at Berkeley.[1] He met his wife, Katherine, while teaching at UCLA. Katherine had enrolled as the only woman in a fish biology course, despite being warned that the professor disliked teaching women.[1] She met Murray Newman, who was working as an assistant to the biology professor, during the course.[1]