Honored life member: John Hood Ryther.

John Hood Ryther was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1922. He attended Newton High School before,joining the U.S. Army Air Force. He served from 1941 through 1945 and rose to the rank of Captain and Pilot. He subsequently attended Harvard University, receiving the degrees of A.B. (Cure Laude) in 1947, M.A. in 1950, and Ph.D. in 1951. John joined the staff of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1951 as Research Associate. This was the beginning of a lifelong relationship during which he rose to the rank of Senior Scientist and served as Chair of the Biology Department and Director of the Coastal Research Center. John currently enjoys the status of Scientist Emeritus at Woods Hole. His prolific research career included many original and landmark contributions on primary productivity in the world's oceans, and in later years, numerous aspects of aquaculture. As his research in aquaculture grew John found an interested friend in the late Seward Johnson, and in 1983 John assumed the Director position of the Division of Applied Biology at the Harbor Branch Institution, Fort Pierce, Florida. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1987. John now resides with his wile Jean in North Falmouth, Massachusetts, where he enjoys his children, his growing grandchildren, and every opportunity to go fishing.

John's expertise and guidance were widely sought throughout his career. John served as a corporation member of both the Marine Biologic Laboratory at Woods Hole (1955-1981) and the Bermuda Biologic Station (1955-1962), including a period as President of the latter from 1961-1962. He served as a consultant to a wide variety of national bodies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Interior, and Department of the Navy. He served as Director of the International Indian Ocean Expedition from 1963-1967, on the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, International Atlantic Salmon Foundation, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and on the editorial boards of numerous prestigious journals. Always in the forefront of international relations, John was a member of the U.S. Delegation of Oceanographers to the People's Republic of China in 1978 and the National Science Foundation Biologic Oceanographic Delegation to South Korea in 1979.

John's contributions to the world of aquaculture have been many, varying from macrophyte culture to waste recycling aquaculture systems involving multispecies polyculture. Although this work was initiated over 25 years ago, variants on that same theme remain central to current efforts in locations around the world from the United Stales to Israel a testament to the originality of his contributions. Of all his contributions, John is probably most familiar to National Shellfisheries Association members for two publications. The first contribution, published in 1962 is the development of f media in collaboration with fellow N.S.A. Honored Life Member Robert R. L. Guillard. Phytoplankton culture is an essential component of larval and juvenile culture as we currently know it, and the development oF f media was a milestone in the march toward consistent production of food species for bivalve culture. The second is the major text on aquaculture co-authored with John E. Bardach and William O. McLarney. Published in 1972, this remains a valuable text even today.

I came to know John when serving as a postdoctoral fellow under his mentorship when I first arrived in the United States in late 1975. In addition to his brilliant intellect, John is a caring person with an infectious laugh and a love of life that he infuses in all who are exposed to him for any period. He retains an active interest in marine science and, as demonstrated to me on a recent visit to his Massachusetts home, still articulates challenging and innovative questions on a wide range of current research efforts from larval fish development on Georges Bank to macrophyte culture for industrial purposes. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with him during my career.

Roger Mann

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Gloucester Point, VA 23062