Sun Nov 08 2009
A celebration marking the 100th birthday of J. Arthur Herrick, Kent State University emeritus professor and philanthropist, was held June 25 in the Community Room at Laurel Lake Retirement Community in Hudson.
More than 200 friends, family members and colleagues, along with his wife, Margaret, and son, Glenn Herrick, were present for the special observance.
A birthday cake covered with a glaze frosting of Herrick shown on a 30-foot ladder at age 70 completing a tree trimming task was served. A presentation of a plaque honoring Herrick was made by Jim Bissell of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Special recognition for planning the event goes to Joe Macedo, associate vice president, Center for Gift and Estate Planning at KSU. In recognition of Herrick's many contributions and to honor him on his birthday, a pin oak tree was planted near Cunningham Hall, the Department of Biological Sciences building, where he taught at KSU from 1937 until his retirement in 1972.
Professor Herrick was born July 5, 1908, to Mabel and Henry Herrick on the Herrick farm in Twinsburg.
After graduating from Twinsburg High School in 1924 as valedictorian of his class, he attended The Ohio State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in education. He was later awarded a Master of Arts degree in zoology, a doctorate in zoology, and a doctorate in botany, all from OSU.
Professor Herrick is considered by some to be Ohio's greatest conservationist. In 1969, he purchased land in Portage County to ensure that it would not be developed. In 2001, that land became the J. Arthur Herrick Fen Nature Preserve, which he had donated to KSU and the Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, of which he was one of the founding members.
In 1982, Herrick and Margaret were married.
Together, the Herricks have made more than 100 gifts to the university. In 2004, they received the university's Lifetime Philanthropy Award. Many of their gifts support the J. Arthur and Margaret Hatton Herrick Endowed Chair in Plant Conservation Biology.
The KSU Board of Trustees awarded Herrick with the President's Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty or staff member, in 1969.
In 1972, then-Ohio Gov. John Gilligan inducted Herrick into Ohio's Natural Resources Hall of Fame, and in 2001, he was named Ohio's Conservation Hero, one of 50 individuals -- one from each state -- to be selected nationally.
In 2007, KSU named its planned-giving organization the Herrick Society in recognition of the couple's generosity. Among the campus sites named after the couple are the Herrick Aquatic Ecology Research Facility, which is a one-acre wetland study site, and the Herrick Conservatory Gardens and Arboretum.
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