Spotlight Alumni
It's always a treat for the College to be able to, not only reconnect, but to recognize the achievements of its alumni. This year's spotlight alumni is Dr. Laurie Vitt. Laurie's fascination with lizards began in childhood and has blossomed into a career as a professor of zoology.
Laurie graduated from Western Washington University in 1971. During his undergraduate career at Western, he played electric guitar in various bands, including Kathi and the Unusuals, thus managing to finance his education with proceeds from the music.
After graduating Western with his Master's Degree, Laurie was accepted into a Ph.D. program at Arizona State University and received his first of a series of post-docs to work in a remote area of northeastern Brazil. He later went on to take a faculty position at UCLA. In 1990 he was offered a position for the Department of Zoology at the University of Oklahoma.
Laurie has coauthored several books, including Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles and Lizard Ecology: Historical and Experimental Perspectives. He also co-authored, with Erica Pianka, the 2005 Hamilton Book Award winner: "Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity."
He is currently a George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Curator of Reptiles at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Professor of Zoology in the Zoology Department at the University of Oklahoma.
College of Sciences and Technology
Bond Hall, Room 437
360.650.6400 office
360.650.2335 fax
HIGHLIGHTS
is a publication of the
Western Washington University
College of Sciences and Technology
Designer: Jennifer Mott
Editor: Susan Hoidal
Contributors: CST staff
