George C. Anderson papers, 1940-1991

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Anderson, George C. (George Cameron), 1926-
Title
George C. Anderson papers
Dates
1940-1991 (inclusive)
Quantity
6.99 cu. ft. (7 boxes)
Collection Number
4562
Summary
Lecture notes, grant proposals, project reports, research notebooks, slides, articles, writings, and correspondence of a UW Professor of oceanography, former director of Oceanography Department and also formerly with the Department of Zoology.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

George Anderson was born in Vancouver Canada. He attended the University of British Columbia, earning his bachelor's in 1947 and his master's in 1949. He had worked for the BC Game Department during summers, doing research on the trout in Paul Lake near Kamloops. He realized that he was much more interested in the lake than in the fish and this inspired him to continue his education. He began working toward his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1949 and finished in 19.54. His research included studies on Lake Washington and Chase Lake, and Soap Lake and Lake Lenore in the Grand Coulee. He wrote up his dissertation and was offered a position at the UW in Zoology to continue his lake research.

He met his wife, Harriett in zoology in 1954, and they were married for 47 years before she died in 2003. They had one son who died young.

In 1955 on a July day while sailing on Lake Washington, he noticed that the water was cloudy, and a slightly different color and he immediately recognized that something was wrong. He collected a beer bottle full of lake water and took it back to the lab to test, discovering that it had a high concentration of a blue green alga, Oscillatoria rubescens, a notorious indicator of impending pollution. He also looked at dissolved oxygen levels in deep waters and compared it with studies from 1933, 1949 and 1955, and then, with his mentor, wrote an article on the artificial eutrophication of Lake Washington. The article caught the attention of city planner, James Ellis. At that time there were 10 sewage treatment plants dumping into the lake. Ellis drew up the Metro plan which would bring together all the surrounding municipalities to build a line around the lake and divert the sewage to West Point. Dan Evans was a freshman legislator and with scientific backing they got it on the ballot. TV detractors said that it was promoted by the zoologists "who were keepers of zoo animals" insisting that because water was H2O there was plenty of oxygen in the lake. The measure passed in 1958, and Metro cleaned up Lake Washington, the first city in the country to do so.

George felt his studies on lakes had reached a logical conclusion and began interviewing at various universities when Fleming, the chair of the UW Department of Oceanography, a small academic unit, came looking for him. He left word for George not to accept any other job without talking to him first. An attractive offer was made, and there he spent the rest of his career. When George retired the faculty numbered 74

George got a call in 1971 to go to Washington D.C. to administer the Marine Science program for the US Atomic Energy Commission. The family moved then to Washington D.C. but Harriett and their son, then an adolescent, had soon toured most of the museums and battlefields there, and were ready to return to the PNW after the year's commitment was completed. The family returned west, towing Harriett's Volkswagen, bringing their own Stuart the mouse on the journey.

A year later George was appointed as a part time member of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel whose members make up the three member Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards. These boards conduct hearings on applications to construct and operate nuclear power plants throughout the country. The three member boards consist of a lawyer, a nuclear physicist or engineer, and an environmental scientist. Each has the title of Administrative Judge. George attended the National Judicial College and earned a Certificate in Judicial Writing. During the following ten years, as time allowed, he sat on boards involving plants to be built and operated in several states including Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and New York. After much of the licensing of nuclear plants had been finished, he took on other cases such as plant modifications, nuclear medicine, industrial radiography, etc. and he finally resigned from the panel in 2005.

Also, during the 1970s, he took on other assignments, such as member of committees on Ocean Sciences for the National Science Foundation, chair of Advisory Committee for the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System and from 1975 to 1977 was the chief scientist of Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Studies, NOAA. In 1977, he became Associate Chairman of Oceanography and after the formation of the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences in 1980 he was named the Director of the School of Oceanography.

After selling his home in May 2005, he moved to Issaquah where he met and in 2006 married a lovely lady named Margaret. Margaret died the following year. George moved into Mirabella on December 15, the very first day, along with the Bergs and the Potters. He died January 14, 2019.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Lecture notes, grant proposals and project reports, correspondence, research notebooks, slides, articles and writings. Includes information regarding his research on Lake Washington and Green Lake in Seattle.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Consult rights governing publication and reproduction for each accession listed below.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Organized into 2 accessions.

  • Accession No. 4562-001, George C. Anderson papers, 1950-1983
  • Accession No. 4562-002, George C. Anderson papers, 1940-1991

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Accession No. 4562-001: George C. Anderson papers, 1950-1983Return to Top

4.42 cu. ft. (5 boxes)

Scope and Content: Lecture notes, grant proposals and project reports, correspondence. Includes his Lake Washington research files ca. 1950-1952. Correspondence as department director 1982-1983 includes some correspondence from earlier director, report, minutes, correspondence, memoranda of Task Force to Review Institutional Support Services, 1981.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Contact Special Collections for rights governing reproduction and publication.

Acquisition Info: Dr. George C. Anderson, 1996-04-04

Accession No. 4562-002: George C. Anderson papers, 1940-1991Return to Top

2.57 cu. ft. (2 boxes)

Scope and Content: Research notebooks, slides, articles and writings. Primarily document limnological research on Lake Washington and Green Lake in Seattle, Washington.

Restrictions on Access: No restrictions on access.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Info: Anna Batie, 2019-01-18

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Accession
1 4562-002
Biographical Information
1 4562-002
Annual and Seasonal Phytoplankton Production in Puget Sound
April 1972
1 4562-002
A Study of the Production of Kamloops Trout
September 1949
1 4562-002
Phytoplankton Research Paper
1 4562-002
An Analysis of Primary Production Observed During 1966-1975 in Central Puget Sound, Washington
February 1977
1 4562-002
Biometrics
1 4562-002
Ecology
1 4562-002
Biological Methods & Limnology
April 1948
1 4562-002
Fisheries Management
1 4562-002
Comparative Anatomy
1 4562-002
Biology of Fishes
1 4562-002
Biology 1. Lab & Lecture and Protozoology
1 4562-002
Invertebrate Zoology Lab Drawings
1 4562-002
Histology - Lab
1 4562-002
Abstracts of Student Reports in Invertebrate Zoology & Plant Physiology - Lab
1953
1 4562-002
Diploma Holders
1 4562-002
University of Washington Diploma Holder with University of B.C. Conferring of Degrees
1949
1 4562-002
Italian Publications
1990-1991
1 4562-002
Academic Papers
1 4562-002
Botany Lecture and Labs
1 4562-002
University of Washington 1983 Directory, US Immigration Documents
1 4562-002
German Vocabulary
1 4562-002
Morphology Spring Quarter
1951
1 4562-002
Journal Publications
1981-1982
1 4562-002
Journal Publications
1970-1977
1 4562-002
Journal Publications
1962-1969
2 4562-002
Oceanography Technical Reports
1963
2 4562-002
Journal Publications
1955-1964
2 4562-002
Marine Pastures: Plankton in Puget Sound
2 4562-002
The Plankton of Puget Sound
2 4562-002
Socioeconomic, Institutional and Legal Considerations in the Management of Puget Sound
2 4562-002
BIOL 573 - Topics in Limnology
2 4562-002
Systematics and Evolution
2 4562-002
Zoology 533 Lab
2 4562-002
Comparative Anatomy Winter Quarter
1951
2 4562-002
Mycology Autumn Quarter
1950
2 4562-002
Protozoology Autumn Quarter
1950
2 4562-002
Embryology Autumn Quarter
1950
2 4562-002
Mycology Winter Quarter
1951
2 4562-002
Slides

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • University Archives/Faculty Papers (University of Washington)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Anderson, George C. (George Cameron), 1926- (creator)
    • Thompson, Thomas G. (Thomas Gordon), 1888-1961 (creator)
    Corporate Names
    • University of Washington. University Archives