Dr. Walter J. Breckenridge

Ecologist, Ornithologist, Conservationist, Friend
(Painting by Murray Olyphant )

Longtime Chapter member and Professor of Ecology at the University of Minnesota, Walter was born in 1903 in Brooklyn, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa where he majored in zoology and took numerous courses in painting, drawing, and anatomical molding.  He was captain of the gymnastics team his junior year.

Walter later earned his Masters and Doctorate in ecology  at the University of Minnesota. He began working as a preparator at the Bell Museum of Natural History in 1926, and served as its Director for 24 years. 

Dr. Breckenridge was a nationally renowned wildlife author and artist, and helped author and illustrate numerous books on natural history. Over the years he produced a number of nature films. At his retirement in 1969, the island behind the Chapter House was donated to the University of Minnesota in his name, by then Northern States Power Company.