Alfred Sherwood Romer (AC 1917) Papers

Alfred Sherwood Romer (1894-1973) was an eminent vertebrate paleontologist. He graduated from Amherst College in 1917 and then served during World War I in the American Field Service and, subsequently, in the United States Army. It is believed that when he was with A.F.S. he drove ambulances or ammunition trucks in the Chemin des Dames sector; with the U.S. Army, he appears to have been attached to the "Air Service (non-flying)." Romer returned to the U.S. in 1919 and was discharged with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University. For most of his career, he taught at Harvard University, becoming the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in 1947 and directing Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1946 to 1961. In 1956 he won the National Academy of Sciences' Thompson Medal and in 1966 became president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was awarded five honorary degrees, including one from Amherst, and prizes from many other domestic and international scientific societies. As an alumnus, Romer was very active in the life of Amherst College, both as president of the Class of 1917 and as chair of the corporation of Phi Alpha Psi fraternity. Alfred Romer and his wife, Ruth, had three children: a daughter, Sally Evans, and two sons, Robert (AC 1952) and James (AC 1960). Robert Romer is a professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Amherst College. ASR maintained a residence in Pelham, Mass. and throughout his adult life was increasingly active in that community.