Osborn, Henry Fairfield

Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1857–1935, American paleontologist and geologist, b. Fairfield, Conn. He was professor of comparative anatomy (1883–90) at Princeton, and professor of biology (1891–96) and of zoology (1896–1910) at Columbia, where he was also dean of the faculty of pure science (1892–95). From 1891 he was associated with the American Museum of Natural History and formed one of the world's foremost collections of vertebrate fossils. Under his presidency (1908–33) the museum's scientific staff, facilities, and endowments were greatly expanded. He joined the U.S. Geological Survey as vertebrate paleontologist in 1900 and became (1924) senior geologist. His voluminous writings include general works on evolution and over 500 technical papers on paleontology.

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Osborn, Henry Fairfield (1857–1935) paleontologist, educator; born in Fairfield, Conn. He taught natural sciences at Princeton (1881–91) and biology at Columbia University (1891–1907). In 1891 he organized the department of mammalian paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. As the museum's president (1908–35), he developed it into the world's largest natural history museum. His bibliography includes more than 600 scientific titles, most notably on reptilian and mammalian evolution; he is credited with originating the term "adaptive radiation."