Deane P. Furman Parasitic Acari Collection

 

Deane P. Furman (1915-2000) was a boy from the small prairie town of Richardton, North Dakota, who ultimately became a distinguished Professor of Entomology at UC Berkeley. He received a bachelor’s degree in entomology at UCB in 1937 and a doctoral degree at UC Davis in 1942. During WWII he served in the Philippines as a US Army Commanding Officer and Entomologist with the 40th Malaria Survey Unit, earning a Bronze Star for his unit’s successful campaign in controlling mosquitos and other pest insects.

Dr. Furman joined the entomology faculty at UCB in 1946 and served as a professor for 36 years before retiring in 1982. In 1984, he was asked to return to fill the post of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Natural Resources and remained until his “second” retirement in 1987. Furman was a world-renowned parasitologist whose research involved the study of the systematics and complex biology of the parasitic mites of mammals and birds. During his career he produced 137 publications, including his widely-used Manual of Medical Entomology and his 1984 CIS Bulletin with Edmond C. Loomis, The Ticks of California. Besides his scientific accomplishments, Furman was considered to be one of the finest instructors in the Department of Entomological Sciences, and was acclaimed for training graduate students who went on to become highly successful scientists themselves. As a researcher, teacher and person, he was greatly admired and respected by his colleagues world-wide and in the campus community, and by the students who benefited from his mentoring.

The Collection

After his retirement, Dr. Furman transferred his research collection of mites to the Essig Museum in stages from 1983-1985. The Deane P. Fuman Parasitic Acari Collection is comprised of 13,194 microscope slides of parasitic mites from all over the world, and includes three holotypes, one allotype and 877 paratypes.

Selected Bibliography

Furman, D. P. 1953. Mites of the genera Myialges and Microlichus (Acarina: Epidermoptidae) from avian and insect hosts. Journal of Parasitology 39(1):70-78.
Furman, D. P. 1954. A revision of the genus Pneumonyssus (Acarina: Halarachnidae). Journal of Parasitology 40(1):31-42.
Furman, D. P. 1957. Revision of the genus Sternostoma Berlese and Trouessart (Acarina: Rhinonyssidae). Hilgardia 26(10):473-495.
Furman, D. P. 1959. Feeding habits of symbiotic mesostigmatid mites of mammals in relation to pathogen-vector potentials. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 8(1):5-12.
Furman, D. P. and E. C. Loomis. 1984. The Ticks of California (Acari: Ixodida). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 25: 1-239, 356 figs.
Furman, D. P. and E. P. Catts. 1982. Manual of Medical Entomology. Cambridge University Press, New York. 207pp.

This selection was adapted from

Lane, R. S., W. C. Reeves and C. J. Weinmann. 2000. Deane P. Furman, 1915-2000, Professor of Entomology, Emeritus. University of California In Memoriam: 2000:73-75.