Vogt, William

Vogt, William

(1902–68) ornithologist, ecologist; born in Mineola, N.Y. He worked as a bird sanctuary curator and as a field naturalist and editor for the National Audubon Society before turning in the 1940s to the problems posed by the pressures of the human population on the environment. From 1943–50 he headed the conservation section of the Pan American Union. His book Road to Survival (1948) became a best-seller. He headed the Planned Parenthood Federation, America's largest birth control organization, from 1951–61.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.