Entomology World Mourning the Loss of Bruce Eldridge

The entomology world is mourning the loss of UC Davis Professor Emeritus Bruce Eldridge. As a medical entomologist, his exemplary military,  academic and administrative career spanned more than six decades.

He died Wednesday, Feb. 5 in Davis at age 91. 

Dr. Eldridge began his entomology career in the U.S. Army, chairing the Department of Entomology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C., from 1969 to 1977. He completed his 21-year military career in 1978, retiring as a colonel, and then served as professor and chair of the Oregon State University Department of Entomology from 1978 to 1986. He joined the UC Davis entomology faculty in 1986, and directed the statewide UC Mosquito Research Program (UCMRP) for 14 years.

A highlight of his career: receiving the international Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology in 2007 from the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. At the time, Eldridge was one of only 15 entomologists to receive the award since 1987, and the third at UC Davis.

Following his retirement, Eldridge maintained an office at the Center for Vectorborne Diseases (CVEC) working on technological issues to incorporate surveillance data on the California Vectorborne Disease Surveillance System website. As “Dr. Vector,” he responded to arbovirus questions online and continued to provide leadership in mosquito control in California, said Christopher Barker, a professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Barker, who received his doctorate from UC Davis in 2008,  was Eldridge's last graduate student.

UC Davis medical entomologists William Reisen and Thomas Scott, now both emeriti professors, nominated Eldridge for the Hoogstraal Medal. In their nomination letter, they described his career as “outstanding.” Eldridge developed administrative programs in both military and academic environments; advanced research in mosquitoes and the arboviruses they transmit, culminating in 153 publications; and mentored 13 doctorate and postdoctoral students and other young scientists.

“Throughout his career, Bruce has remained the consummate professional, always representing himself, his country, his state and his university at the highest professional and personal level,” they wrote. Eldridge served as chair or president of the four primary American medical entomology societies, and “head of the Entomology Department at the prestigious Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the highest position possible for a military entomologist.”

Eldridge, as director of the UC Mosquito Research Program from 1986 to 2000, helped to broker the move of the Arbovirus Research Unit from the School of Public Health at Berkeley to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, thereby founding the Center for Vectorborne Diseases (CVEC). Eldridge subsequently served as interim director of CVEC.

“The move led to his new research on arbovirus ecology in seasonal wetlands and on modernizing and improving the California Encephalitis Virus Surveillance Program,” Reisen and Scott wrote. “Through Bruce's pivotal relationships with the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California and the California Department of Public Health, CVEC became a key player in arbovirus research and surveillance in California.”

Eldridge, born March 26, 1933, in San Jose, received his bachelor's degree in biological sciences (1954) from San Jose State College; his master's degree in entomology (1956) from Washington State University, Pullman; and his doctorate in entomology from Purdue University (1965) while in the military.

Barker praised Eldridge as “an exemplary professional and mentor…He approached his work with humility and respect for his colleagues, always curious and eager to hear new ideas. He was never the loudest voice in the room, although I should point out that he was quite a ham on a theater stage or with a banjo in his hand. His attention to detail was admirable, and he often returned my dissertation drafts marked up with comments on the science interspersed with points about grammar, style, or proper usage of scientific terms.” 

The UC Davis Entomology andNematology website includes a number of tributes from his colleagues and friends.  Among the tributes:

UC Davis professor emeritus William Reisen, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine: 

“I interfaced with Bruce intermittently for over half a century, starting when as a colonel in the Army, he defused a blunder by a new Air Force lieutenant in the Philippines and ending in retirement, when I joined his golf outings at Davis.  In the 1960s, Bruce helped establish the University of Maryland Pakistan Medical Research Center in Lahore, where I later worked in the mid-1970s.  Later after I moved to UC Berkeley, Bruce hosted a critical visit to Oregon State University where he provided important guidance at the onset of my studies of diapause and arbovirus overwintering in Culex tarsalis.  After Bruce moved to UC Davis, he repeatedly helped procure funding to support our research at Bakersfield and later at CVEC at Davis. In addition, he passed along his editorship of the Journal of Medical Entomology to me in the late 1980s. Most notable were our co-authored grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which investigated the use of satellite data to map mosquito populations and detect unmaintained swimming pools. These projects, in part, formed the basis of Chris Barker's dissertation and the establishment of the  California Vectorborne Disease Surveillance Program (CalSurv) that eventually formed the core of the CDC Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence." 

"Bruce clearly helped to synergize close collaboration among the University of California, the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California, and the California Department of Public Health that persists today and has led to California's leadership in arbovirus management programs at the national and international levels.  My hope is that this description illustrates how Bruce selflessly assisted and promoted the careers of the many scientists fortunate to fall under his guidance and direction.”

UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Thomas Scott: 
“Bruce had a rich life with unique experiences, and he made significant contributions to science. He traveled to and worked at sites around the world investigating the biology and control of mosquitoes. When I came to Davis, I knew him by his reputation and was excited to meet him in person and to work with him. He did not disappoint. He took me under his wing and personally introduced me to the key players in mosquito control and research across California. I remember vividly the frequent insightful, constructive conversations we had in his Briggs Hall office. But what I remember most about Bruce was his leadership style. He did a lot of good things to help and support other people. Bruce was a science facilitator and most importantly he was a good man.”

UC Davis doctoral alumna Sarah Wheeler, laboratory director, Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District:  
Bruce was a visionary that spent his career balancing the scale against vector-borne diseases. He had a keen intelligence, approachable demeanor, and a good dog or two by his side. He brought the folks in our field along with him and worked tirelessly to build connectivity and the flow of data. He will be missed, but his insight and forethought will continue to carry us into the future.”

UC Davis doctoral alumna Tara Thiemann, associate professor and department co-chair, Department of Entomology, University of the Pacific, Stockton:

“I knew Bruce when I was a PhD student at CVEC. He was already retired but still active in research. Bruce was not my advisor, so he had no official obligation to me. Still, he made himself available to talk about projects, to edit dissertation drafts, and to help find the perfect word for a sentence when I was struggling.  He provided a great amount of support for me and for many other budding vector biologists.  For that, I am grateful. As an aside: My favorite memory of Bruce was at my PhD graduation party. I had made a mosquito cake topper out of gum paste.  The first thing Bruce did was walk over to the cake to identify the mosquito to species.”

Love of Trains

Bruce Eldridge not only loved playing the banjo but he loved trains. His former staff research associate Ken Lorenzen, a fellow rail enthusiast, accompanied him on many trips. "Over the years, we explored almost 80 railroads in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Colorado, enjoying 'the hunt' for any remaining evidence of long-gone railroads, or visiting sites where current railroads still used the original trackage, buildings, bridges, etc., of predecessors," Lorenzen recalled. "Bruce would consult his well-stocked library of railroad books as he meticulously planned our trips, and those books always helped us find many of the hidden remnants we otherwise might have missed. Bruce also had an encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything railroad, and each trip we took together was an education for me."

"Always on the watch for railroading news around the country, Bruce regularly contributed to a column entitled “Here and There” published in The Review, a bimonthly newsletter of the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association, one of many organizations to which Bruce belonged."

"Bruce was a licensed locomotive engineer and served the Yolo Shortline Railroad by occasionally driving excursion train trips from Woodland to Sacramento," Lorenzen noted. "He also conducted “car counts” for the line where he would inventory railroad cars temporarily stored on sidings or unused tracks. I joined him on several of those counts."

Banjo Player

Professor Eldridge was also an accomplished banjo player (5-string) and a member of a local band. "His son, Ken, playing guitar, often joined the group," Lorenzen recalled. "They performed bluegrass and gospel tunes at numerous venues in the Davis area and I sometimes assisted the group with equipment before and after performances. Bruce had a great voice and particularly liked gospel songs."

"And somehow, amidst all his other recreational activities, Bruce found time to enjoy playing golf with friends. Bruce was an amazing person in so many respects. I am grateful to have known him and been able to call him my friend, both at work and at play. (See more of Lorenzen's tribute)

Resources

News Stories

Legendary Medical Entomologist Bruce Eldridge Dies at 91 
UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website, Feb.13, 2025

Medical Entomologist Bruce Eldridge Receives International Honor
UC Davis Entomology website, Oct. 23, 2007

Interviews 
Bill Reeves Interviews Bruce Eldridge in a 2017 Aggie Video production: 
https://video.ucdavis.edu/media/Bruce+Eldridge/0_zds3jvj3/25823432

Mary Ann Liebert Interviews Bruce Eldridge (2017) for the journal Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 
https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2007.5050