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McKenna, Malcolm C.

 Person

Biographical Note

Malcom C. McKenna (1930-2008) was a paleontologist and a fixture at the American Museum of Natural History, where he served as the Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals. A giant in his field, he wrote hundreds of scientific papers and the book Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level, the standard for the taxonomy of mammals both modern and extinct. He was born in Pomona, CA, and attended the Webb School of California, California Institute of Technology, Pomona College, and the University of California, Berkeley, earning his B.A. in Paleontology in 1954 and a Ph.D in Paleontology in 1958. He began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in 1960 as Assistant Curator in the Dept. of Vertebrate Paleontology and eventually became Frick Curator of the department. He also taught Geology at Columbia University, as well as holding other teaching and board positions.

Selected Bibliography

McKenna, C. Malcolm and Susan K. Bell. Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, 1997.

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:

Department of Vertebrate Paleontology general correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: VPA 105
Scope and Contents Department of Vertebrate Paleontology correspondence from 1887-1966, alphabetized by subject or author. Hundreds of scientists worldwide are represented by correspondence and include Alexander Agassiz, Glover M. Allen, Florentino Ameghino, Erwin H. Barbour, Franz Boas, Stephen F. Borhegyi, Robert Broom, Barnum Brown, Hermon C. Bumpus, Edwin H. Colbert, Thomas Alva Edison, Childs Frick, Walter Granger, William T. Gregory, Claude W. Hibbard, D.A. Hooijer, William T. Hornaday, Remington...
Dates: 1887-1966

Malcolm C. McKenna correspondence, field notes and papers

 Collection
Identifier: VPA 117
Scope and Contents In 1990 Malcolm McKenna cleared his office files of early correspondence through 1985 and deposited them in the archives. It includes 5 field notebooks from Mongolia, 1990-1997. After he became Frick Curator Emeritus, McKenna made another transfer of papers to the archive in 2001. The collection is comprised of two series, reflecting the two deposits: I. Correspondence and field notebooks, 1948-1997 (previously VPA 48a) and II. Papers as Frick Curator Emeritus, 1980-2002 (previously VPA...
Dates: 1948-2002