Edward Laurens Mark

Edward Laurens Mark (30 May 1847 – 16 December 1946) was an American zoologist, Hersey Professor of Anatomy and
Director of the Zoological Laboratory of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) at Harvard University.[1][2][3] In his
landmark cytological monograph published in 1881, Mark also conceived the parenthetical referencing for citation, also known as
Harvard referencing.[4][5][6] [7]

Mark received the degree A.B. in 1871 from the University of Michigan. After service as astronomer of the United States
Northwest Boundary Survey, in 1873 he travelled to Europe, becoming the first American to obtain a doctorate in the laboratory
of Rudolf Leuckart; receiving his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Leipzig in 1876. Bringing the cytological and
histological approach with him to Harvard University in 1877, he was responsible for the introduction of advanced European
microscopic techniques. He became assistant professor of zoology in 1883 and Hersey professor of anatomy in 1885, a position
he held until his retirement in 1921. Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1885, he was one of the
scientists and financial benefactors who founded The Bermuda Biological Station for Research in 1903; location of the Bermuda
Institute of Ocean Sciences. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Michigan in 1896 and from the
University of Wisconsin in 1904. [8] [9] [10] [2] [11]

Continuing under the period of Mark's leadership, Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology became the major American
centre for training research scholars in zoology; especially comparative embryology and later, comparative evolutionary
embryology. After completing their doctorates, graduates of Mark’s laboratory dispersed across the United States having a
profound effect on the progress of American zoology. They were research oriented and brought with them a research agenda
grounded in comparative zoology and comparative evolutionary embryology. Mark's students accepted academic appointments at
universities and scientific institutions, founded or expanded natural history museums, founded marine laboratories, and
contributed lasting scientific research legacies. [2] Among his notable students were Thomas Barbour, William Emerson Ritter,
and William Rees Brebner Robertson. [1] [2]

A prolific author, elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1903, Mark was known for his insistence on orderliness,
accuracy of detail, and attention to bibliographic data; setting a high standard for research and publications in America. Loyal to
his students, "he followed their triumphs and reverses with a kindly human interest." Through expressions of extraordinary
gratitude, including from Theodore Roosevelt, Mark's students contributed original papers to the 1903 Festschrift "Mark
Anniversary Volume," celebrating his 25 years of success in the advancement of zoology. [7] [12] [13] [1] [2]

References
1. Parker, George Howard. Mark anniversary volume ; to Edward Laurens Mark, Hersey professor of anatomy and
director of the zoölogical laboratory at Harvard university, in celebration of twenty-five years of successful work
for the advancement of zoölogy, from his former students, 1877-1902 (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/167
89). H. Holt and company.
2. http://www.evolbiol.ru/docs/docs/large_files/evo_devo.pdf
3. https://alumni.neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/docs/Harvard_Professorsips_Book_1721-1992.pdf
4. Mark, E. L. (9 December 1881). Maturation, Fecundation, and segmentation of limax campestris, Binney (https://
catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002002666). Harvard college. Museum of comparative zoology. Bulletin ;Vol. VI,
Part 2, No.12. printed for the Museum – via Hathi Trust.
 5. Chernin, Eli (22 October 1988). "The "Harvard system": a mystery dispelled" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/a
rticles/PMC1834803). British Medical Journal. 297 (6655): 1062–1063. doi:10.1136/bmj.297.6655.1062 (https://d
oi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.297.6655.1062). PMC 1834803
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1834803).
6. "Edward Laurens Mark". The Anatomical Record. 102 (3): 273–277. 1 November 1948.
doi:10.1002/ar.1091020302 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Far.1091020302).
7. "Edward Mark" (http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001644.html).
www.nasonline.org.
8. "The Michigan Alumnus" (https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Michigan_Alumnus.html?id=tR_iAAAAMAA
J). UM Libraries. 9 December 2018 – via Google Books.
9. "Mark, E. L. (Edward Laurens), 1847-1946 @ SNAC" (http://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w6t742m3).
snaccooperative.org.
10. Mark, E. L (9 December 1868). Papers of Edward Laurens Mark. OCLC 76973114 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/76973114).
11. https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/archives/v13.pdf
12. "Mark, E. L. (Edward Laurens), 1847-1946 - The Online Books Page" (http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbi
n/book/lookupname?key=Mark,+E.+L.+(Edward+Laurens),+1847-1946). onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.
13. "Edward Laurens Mark". The Anatomical Record. 102 (3): 273–277. 1948. doi:10.1002/ar.1091020302 (https://do
i.org/10.1002%2Far.1091020302).

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