In memoriam: Oscar Bacon

Oscar Bacon. Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey.

Bacon, who served UC for 41 years and chaired the UC Davis Department of Entomology from 1967 to 1974, specialized in the biology, ecology and population dynamics of insects associated with field crops. In 1946, Bacon took his first job with UC in entomology as an associate in the Agriculture Experiment Station at UC Berkeley.

In 1953, he moved to UC Davis to develop his own entomology programs. He taught the first UC Davis biological control course and was instrumental in forming the Plant Protection and Pest Management Graduate Group. He is credited with co-authoring the term, “integrated pest control.”

Robbin Thorp, UC Davis professor emeritus, collaborated with Bacon on research of alfalfa leafcutter bees in the mid-1960s.

“Oscar and his crew also tested pesticide effects on these bees and discovered a number of biological traits important to their management as commercial pollinators," Thorp said. "Oscar co-authored the first Cooperative Extension publication on the alfalfa leafcutting bees with several of us.”

He earned his bachelor's degree at Fresno State College in zoology, then went on to earn his master's degree in entomology in 1944 and his doctorate in entomology in 1948, both from UC Berkeley.

For more about Bacon's career, read the full story by Kathy Keatley Garvey at //ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=22675.

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