American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Haas, Otto, 1887-1976
birth: March 25, 1887
death: December 2, 1976
Research Associate (AMNH Geology and Paleontology)
Otto Henry Haas was a geologist and paleontologist specializing in fossil invertebrates. He joined the American Museum of Natural History's Dept. of Geology and Paleontology in 1940 as research associate, became research assistant in 1944, and was associate curator from 1945 to 1955, when he retired with emeritus status. Haas was born in Brno, Czech Republic, studied geology and paleontology at the University of Vienna, then studied law, earning several doctorates. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I, and worked at his private law practice in Vienna from 1919 to 1938, when he was disbarred. In 1939 Haas and his family fled to England, then to America in 1940. Haas's paleontological research in the 1940's and 50's concerned Mesozoic invertebrates, particularly ammonites, and their value in resolving questions of paleoecology, stratigraphy and evolution. Haas was awarded the A. Cressey Morrison Prize by the New York Academy of Sciences for his work on the Cretaceous ammonites collected by the 1925 Vernay Angola Expedition. He published the results of the 1947 Newell Expedition to the Peruvian Andes, led by Norman D. Newell, under the title: Mesozoic invertebrate faunas of Peru. From 1955 to 1969 Haas was a visiting lecturer and consultant at various universities, including the University of Nevada, Reno, from 1960-1971. He died in Reno in 1976.