Jerry R. Choate Papers

Collection

Identifier: FC 002

Staff Only

This order and arrangement was maintained even though materials were transferred to cubic foot boxes in March 2023.

"The Dr. Jerry R. Choate Papers are housed in three file cabinets and date from 1965 to 2009. These files are arranged into eleven series with one series restricted: Series II: Student Files.

The papers are comprised mainly of correspondence, course materials, research materials, and Sternberg Museum construction information."

Dates

1965-2009

Creator

Choate, Jerry R. (Jerry R. Choate), 1943-2010 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Fort Hays State University Archives staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials. Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation or publication. Contact Fort Hays State University Archives for more information. Items cannot be removed from the University Archives.

Conditions Governing Use

Written permission must be obtained from the Fort Hays State University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Extent

27.5 Linear Feet (Jerry R. Choate Papers are housed in 16 cubic foot boxes in the University Archives. Jerry R. Choate Papers were housed in a series of filing cabinets in the University Archives until March 2023 when materials were rehoused in cubic foot boxes. )

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Additional Description

Overview

Author and educator Dr. Jerry R. Choate joined the Fort Hays Kansas State College faculty in 1971 as an Assistant Professor of Zoology. The Dr. Jerry R. Choate Papers date from 1965 to 2009. The papers are comprised mainly of correspondence, course materials, research materials, and Sternberg Museum construction information.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Jerry Choate was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on March 21, 1943; the son of Alyce J. Cox and F. L. “Lucky” Choate. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the Kansas State College of Pittsburg in 1965, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Kansas in 1969. He joined the Fort Hays Kansas State College faculty in 1971 as an Assistant Professor of Zoology. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1976, then to Professor in 1980.

In 1973, Dr. Choate was appointed director of the Fort Hays State University’s Museum of the High Plains and overall director of FHSU museums in 1980, which included not only the Museum of the High Plains but also the Sternberg Memorial Museum. In anticipation of moving off the main campus, these two museums were merged in 1994 to become the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Dr. Choate remained as museum director until retiring in the summer of 2009; he passed away on December 9, 2009. He is survived by his wife, Rosemary Fidelis Walker, and son, Judd Randolph, daughter-in-law, Lyn Kathlene, and 2 granddaughters, Mahlon and Jacqueline Rosemary.

During his career, Dr. Choate held positions with the State Biological Survey of Kansas, the University of Connecticut, the University of Kansas and Yale University. He published five books, 127 refereed journal articles and 55 un-refereed and technical publications, and gave numerous scholarly presentations. He was awarded the C. Hart Merriam Award in 1986 which recognizes outstanding contributions to mammalogy by members of the American Society of Mammalogists. Dr. Choate also received the Fort Hays State University President’s Distinguished Scholar award in 2005, which recognizes instruction, research and creative activities and service performance.

Dr. Choate held membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Mammalogists, Association of Systematics Collections, Beta Beta Beta, Biological Society of Washington, Kansas Academy of Science, North Dakota Natural Science Society, Society of the Sigma Xi, Society for the Study of Evolution, Southern California Academy of Sciences and Southwestern Association of Naturalists.

Arrangement

The Dr. Jerry R. Choate Papers are arranged into 11 series:

I. Correspondence

II. Student Files (restricted)

III. Kansas Mammal Species

IV. Research Files

V. Grant Proposals

VI. Class Lecture Notes

VII. Blueprints

VIII. Personal Data

IX. Sternberg Museum

X. Sternberg Museum Construction

XI. Unsorted Files