Murray Newman (zoologist)

Murray A. Newman (1924 – March 18, 2016) was an American-born Canadian public aquarium director, curator and zoologist. He served as the founding director of the Vancouver Aquarium for 37 years, from 1955 until his retirement in 1993.^[1] Newman oversaw the opening of the Vancouver Aquarium in June 1956.^[1] During his tenure, Newman championed research and conservation, areas that had not previously been a priority by staff at other aquariums.^[1] Newman, who had a firm interest in the Canadian Arctic, created field expeditions and research programs in the country's Far North which continue to the present day.^[1]

Newman was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.^[1] He received a bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of Chicago and a master's degree, also in zoology, from the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his thesis on the social behavior of brook trout and rainbow trout.^[1][2] He was hired as a museum zoologist as the University of California, Los Angeles after he completed his master's degree at Berkeley.^[1] He met his wife, Katherine, while teaching at UCLA. Katherine had enrolled as the only woman in a fish biology course, despite being warned that the professor disliked teaching women.^[1] She met Murray Newman, who was working as an assistant to the biology professor, during the course.^[1]

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