Tag Archives: Rockefeller University

Fourth West Campus house named in honor of biologist William T. Keeton

The fourth residential house now under construction on Cornell’s West Campus will be named in honor of the late William T. Keeton, Cornell professor of biology. Keeton House will open in August 2008.

South wing of Keeton House under construction.

Robert Barker/University Photography
A view of William T. Keeton House’s south wing under construction on West Campus.

Members of the West Campus Council’s House Naming Committee nominated Keeton for his impact on undergraduate biology at Cornell and at institutions around the country. President David Skorton announced the naming at the Board of Trustees meeting prior to Commencement in May.

Keeton taught at Cornell for 22 years, from 1958 until his death at age 47 in 1980 from a heart condition. An extraordinary and popular teacher as well as an accomplished scholar, Keeton revolutionized the teaching of biology in American higher education. His research centered on avian orientation, including pigeon homing and navigation.

“I am just thrilled that this house is being named for him,” said Carl Hopkins, Cornell professor of neurobiology and behavior. “That is a tremendous honor to biology and to his memory. He revolutionized biology teaching because he brought botany and zoology together in a single course, united by an evolutionary perspective.”

Keeton is the author of the widely used introductory textbook “Biological Science,” now in its sixth edition. A condensed version of the book — “Biology: An Exploration of Life,” by Keeton’s Cornell colleague, retired lecturer Carol McFadden — has been used in a non-majors biology course at Cornell.

Professor William T. Keeton

File photo
Cornell Professor of Biology William T. Keeton with a pigeon, one of the subjects of his research on avian orientation. A new West Campus house will bear Keeton’s name.

The Keeton Prize, established in 1991, is awarded by biology faculty at Cornell each year to the best undergraduate students taking Biology 101-104.

Hopkins has created a Web site with 25 audio files of Keeton’s lectures from his last semester of teaching at Cornell. The recordings are from cassette tapes Keeton made available at the Cornell Library for his students. The site, at http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog101/Keeton.htm, also contains links to a list of Keeton Prize winners and articles by and about Keeton.

“Every time I heard him, it didn’t matter what the context, he was just captivating and could tell a great story,” said Hopkins, who was a graduate student when he first met Keeton at a lecture at The Rockefeller University. “These lectures he gave at the introductory level for biology are just unbelievable.”

Carpenter working on Keeton House.

Robert Barker/University Photography
Tom Hollenbeck, a carpenter for Welliver-McGuire, works at the construction site for West Campus’ House 4, which will be named for former Cornell biology professor William T. Keeton.

Construction on the fifth and as yet unnamed final house in the West Campus House System will be complete at the same time, with house programs scheduled to begin there in August 2009. Like the other West Campus residence buildings, it will be named for a prominent Cornell professor from the past.

The completed buildings on West Campus are:

  • Alice H. Cook House, which opened in 2004 and honors the late professor in the ILR School who was one of the first scholars to address working women’s issues.
  • Carl L. Becker House, which opened in August 2005 and is named for the former university historian and professor of history from 1917-41.
  • Hans A. Bethe House, which opened in January 2007 and honors the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who taught at Cornell from 1935-75.
  • The new Noyes Community Recreation Center, which opened in January 2007 to replace the old Noyes Center.
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