Arthur Whiteley's 95th Birthday Celebration
On December 15th, friends and colleagues of Arthur Whiteley gathered at the Whiteley Center to celebrate Arthur's 95th birthday. It was an afternoon full of stories and remembrances filled with humor and good feelings. Ken Sebens and Trish Morse welcomed everyone and wished Arthur a Happy Birthday. Then, Dennis Willows started the storytelling with this one which may become an Arthur legend:
"When I first joined the UW Faculty in the late '60's, we had a new chairman appointed by the Dean to take a critical, and sometimes even harsh look at how the department was structured. He was an officer in the US Naval Reserve and brought with him some leadership ideas that were more military than academic. This inevitably resulted in hotly debated issues in faculty meetings and in particular, some strong differences of opinion between him and Arthur. Early on, I was invited to a social event with this chairman and his wife at their cottage on Camano Island, and when he was showing me around his place, I noticed something unusual. He had some splitting wedges out by his wood pile that had writing on them. On closer examination, I noticed Arthur's initials on one of them, and asked his wife what this was about. She explained that after a difficult faculty meeting, her husband would come home and go straight to the wood pile. He'd take out the wedge labeled with Arthur's initials, pick up his 16 pound sledge, select a gnarly old piece of a stump and go to work on that Arthur-wedge with enthusiasm. That's just how tough and committed Arthur has always been about issues that matter to him."
Another guest pointed out that Arthur's stand against establishment of salmon farming pens in local waters as another good example of his visionary approach to conservation issues, and his firm resistance to inappropriate pressures. It is this commitment and determination that enabled Arthur to develop the Whiteley Center in honor of his wife, Helen Riaboff Whiteley, a little over 10 years ago. Arthur had the vision of how a scholarly retreat would complement and enhance the Labs and we are so thankful that he worked diligently with faculty and University to realize this dream. FHL students and researchers are enriched with interfaces with the dozens of scholars rotating through the Center each year. Arthur capped the afternoon by taking us through the journey of his and Helen's rich lives. Apropos of this celebratory event, it was noted that Dr. Fumio Iwata, Professor Emeritus from Hokkaido University Japan, who is a visiting scientists at FHL, has completed the description of a new to science nemertean worm, his taxonomic specialty, and has chosen to honor Arthur Whiteley by naming it, Peavinenemertes whiteleyi.
photo by Kathleen Ballard