Grover C. Stephens
Encyclopedia
Grover Cleveland Stephens (1925–2003), born in Oak Park, Illinois
, was a marine biologist and comparative physiologist
at the University of Minnesota and the University of California at Irvine.
. He entered military service on 13 Nov 1943 and trained at the Great Lakes Naval Station. After one year of engineering training at Purdue University
and Princeton University
, he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in the spring of 1945 and assigned as a gunnery officer on the USS Philippine Sea
, which was commissioned after VJ-Day
. He was released from active duty in the Navy in 1946, and after completing his remaining college course work, graduated from Northwestern University
with a B.A. in mathematics in 1948. He earned an M.A. in philosophy at Northwestern University in 1949, and after working in the laboratory of Frank A. Brown at Northwestern University and the Marine Biological Laboratory
(MBL) at Woods Hole, Massachusetts
during the summers, he earned his Ph.D. in physiology in 1952.
(1952–53), after which he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota
(UM) in September 1953. During his eleven years at UM, most of his research was done at MBL, where he worked on the daily rhythms of color change of fiddler crabs. Some of his most important work during this time period was his 1957 discovery, along with Robert A. Schinske, of the ability of soft-bodied marine invertebrates to take up amino acids and other small-organic molecules directly from seawater. This discovery was important in broadening our understanding of how many marine invertebrates feed and how energy
and nutrients flow through marine ecosystems.
In 1964, Stephens joined the faculty of the University of California at Irvine (UCI) as the founding chairman of the Department of Organismic Biology. While at UCI, he spent his career refining and expanding his findings of amino acid uptake by invertebrates, conclusively showing that bacteria were not involved in the process, and that the process was a significant supplementary source of nutrition for many animals. He served as the third dean of the School of Biological Sciences at UCI from 1982 to 1986. A man of varied talents, he was a good athlete and proficient amateur pianist occasionally performing as an accompanist for vocal artists at the university. Stephens retired from the university in 1991, but continued to be an active participant in campus activities until his death on 17 June 2003.
until his death in 2003.
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, was a marine biologist and comparative physiologist
Comparative physiology
Comparative physiology is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environmental physiology. Many universities offer undergraduate courses that cover...
at the University of Minnesota and the University of California at Irvine.
Early life, military service, and education
Stephens was born 12 Jan 1925 in Oak Park to Grover C. and Celene Madeleine (Seibert) Stephens, and grew up in Cicero, IllinoisCicero, Illinois
Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....
. He entered military service on 13 Nov 1943 and trained at the Great Lakes Naval Station. After one year of engineering training at Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in the spring of 1945 and assigned as a gunnery officer on the USS Philippine Sea
USS Philippine Sea (CV-47)
USS Philippine Sea was one of 24 s built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the first US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for the 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea. Philippine Sea was commissioned in May 1946, too late to serve in World War II...
, which was commissioned after VJ-Day
Victory over Japan Day
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event...
. He was released from active duty in the Navy in 1946, and after completing his remaining college course work, graduated from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
with a B.A. in mathematics in 1948. He earned an M.A. in philosophy at Northwestern University in 1949, and after working in the laboratory of Frank A. Brown at Northwestern University and the Marine Biological Laboratory
Marine Biological Laboratory
The Marine Biological Laboratory is an international center for research and education in biology, biomedicine and ecology. Founded in 1888, the MBL is the oldest independent marine laboratory in the Americas, taking advantage of a coastal setting in the Cape Cod village of Woods Hole, Massachusetts...
(MBL) at Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...
during the summers, he earned his Ph.D. in physiology in 1952.
Academic career
Stephens began his academic career teaching at Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
(1952–53), after which he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
(UM) in September 1953. During his eleven years at UM, most of his research was done at MBL, where he worked on the daily rhythms of color change of fiddler crabs. Some of his most important work during this time period was his 1957 discovery, along with Robert A. Schinske, of the ability of soft-bodied marine invertebrates to take up amino acids and other small-organic molecules directly from seawater. This discovery was important in broadening our understanding of how many marine invertebrates feed and how energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
and nutrients flow through marine ecosystems.
In 1964, Stephens joined the faculty of the University of California at Irvine (UCI) as the founding chairman of the Department of Organismic Biology. While at UCI, he spent his career refining and expanding his findings of amino acid uptake by invertebrates, conclusively showing that bacteria were not involved in the process, and that the process was a significant supplementary source of nutrition for many animals. He served as the third dean of the School of Biological Sciences at UCI from 1982 to 1986. A man of varied talents, he was a good athlete and proficient amateur pianist occasionally performing as an accompanist for vocal artists at the university. Stephens retired from the university in 1991, but continued to be an active participant in campus activities until his death on 17 June 2003.
Selected publications
- Brown, F.A. Jr. and G.C. Stephens. 1951. Studies on the daily rhythmicity of the fiddler crab, Uca. Modification by photoperiod. Biological Bulletin 101:71-83.
- Stephens, G.C. 1955. Induction of molting in the crayfish, Cambarus, by modification of daily photoperiod. Biological Bulletin 108:235-241.
- Stephens, G.C. and R.A. Schinske. 1961. Uptake of amino acids by marine invertebrates. Limnology and Oceanography 6(2):175-181.
- Stephens, G.C. 1975. Uptake of naturally occurring primary amines by marine annelids. Biological Bulletin 149:397-407.
- Stephens, G.C. 1982. Recent progress in the study of "Die Ernährung der Wassertiere und der Stoffhaushalt der Gewasser". American Zoologist 22(3):611-619.
- Manahan, D.T.Donal T. ManahanDonal Thomas Manahan is an Irish-born American marine scientist and comparative physiologist known for Antarctic and deep oceanic research on the physiology and ecology of marine invertebrates and their larvae in extreme environments....
, S.H. Wright, G.C. Stephens and M.A. RiceMichael A. RiceMichael Alan Rice, is an American professor of fisheries and aquaculture at the University of Rhode Island and former state representative from South Kingstown, Rhode Island...
. 1982. Transport of dissolved amino acids by the mussel, Mytilus edulis: Demonstration of net uptake from seawater by HPLC analysis. Science 215:1253-1255. - Manahan, D.T., S.H. Wright, and G.C. Stephens. 1983. Simultaneous determination of net uptake of 16 amino acids by a marine bivalve. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology 244:R832-R838
- Davis, J.P. and G.C. Stephens. 1984. Uptake of free amino acids by bacteria-free larvae of the sand dollar Dendraster excentricus. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology 247: R733-R739
- Stephens, G.C. 1988. Epidermal uptake of amino acids in marine invertebrates: Mechanisms and studies of specificity. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 947:113-138.
Personal life
Stephens was first married in 1950 to biologist Gwen Maxine Jones (1919–1991) and they had three sons: physicist Peter W. Stephens (1951- )http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp/web-mirrors/pssp/Peter/Peter.html, John D. Stephens, and Joseph Henry Stephens (1960–1992). Stephens married Ann C. Doyle on 11 June 1977, and they resided in Newport Beach, CaliforniaNewport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
until his death in 2003.