Past Presidents Addresses

After their term is up, presidents of the ESA give a speech. Originally a “President’s Address,” this task later became a primary project of the outgoing Past President. Addresses are given at the Annual ESA Meeting one year after the president leaves office and two years after a president takes office. They are published in the ESA Bulletin the following December.

After their term is up, presidents of the ESA give a speech. Originally a “President’s Address,” this task later became a primary project of the outgoing Past President. Addresses are given at the Annual ESA Meeting one year after the president leaves office and two years after a president takes office. They are published in the ESA Bulletin the following December.

The Past Presidents Addresses provide interesting perspective on events of the times, whether addressing broad environmental concerns of society, or specific challenges of ESA. Because these became demanding on the time of Past Presidents, they were discontinued in 2000 by Kay Gross; she became the last Past President to prepare one. However, the ESA bylaws still state that “The Past President shall deliver an address to the membership at the Annual Meeting.”

The available speeches are listed in the table below. The year column reflects not the year the address was given but the year the individual began his or her term as President.

Start Name
1916Victor Ernest Shelford
1917Ellsworth Huntington
1918Henry Chandler Cowles
1919Barrington Moore
1920Barrington Moore
1921Stephen Alfred Forbes
1922Forrest Shreve
1923Charles Christopher Adams
1924Edgar Nelson Transeau
1925Arthur Sperry Pearse
1926John William Harshberger
1927Chancey Juday
1928Homer Leroy Shantz
1929Warder Clyde Allee
1930John Ernst Weaver
1931Asa Orrin Weese
1932George Elwood Nichols
1933Edwin Booth Powers
1934George Damon Fuller
1935Walter Penn Taylor
1936William Skinner Cooper
1937Robert Ervin Coker
1938Herbert Christian Hanson
1939Charles Taylor Vorhies
1940Francis Ramaley
1941Alfred Edwards Emerson
1942Clarence Ferdinand Korstian
1943Orlando Park
1944Robert Fiske Griggs
1945Alfred Clarence Redfield
1946John Mulvaney Aikman
1947Rand Aldo Leopold
1948Paul Bigelow Sears
1949Zeno Payne Metcalf
1950Emma Lucy Braun
1951Samuel Charles Kendeigh
1952Frank Caleb Gates
1953Lee Raymond Dice
1954John Ernest Potzger
1955William John Hamilton Jr.
1956Henry John Oosting
1957William Albert Dreyer
1958Stanley Adair Cain
1958Frank William Preston
1959Thomas ParkOk St U, Oklahoma; August 1960An Ecologist's View. ESA Bulletin 42(1):4-10
1960Charles Edward Olmsted
1961Arthur Davis Hasler
1962Murray Fife Buell
1963William Franklin Blair
1964John Frederick Reed
1965Eugene Pleasants Odum
1966Bostwick Hawley Ketchum
1967Rexford F. Daubenmire
1968LaMont Cook Cole
1968John Edward CantlonU Vt, Vermont; August 1970
1969Edward Smith Deevey Jr.
1970Frederick Herbert BormannMinneapolis, Minnesota; August 1972
1971Stanley Irving AuerbachU Ma, Massachusetts; June 1973
1972Robert Baxter PlattTempe, Arizona; June 1974
1973Frederick Edward SmithCorvallis, Oregon; August 1975
1974Richard Samuel MillerNew Orleans, Louisiana; June 1976
1975Forest Walden StearnsEast Lansing, Michigan; August 1977Urban Ecology--Opportunity or Tar Pit? ESA Bulletin 59(1):7-9 (excerpt)
1976Frank Benjamin GolleyAthens, Georgia; August 1978
1977George Masters WoodwellStillwater, Oklahoma; August 1979Ecology 1979. ESA Bulletin 60(4):190-195
1978William Dwight BillingsTucson, Arizona; August 1980American Deserts and Their Mountains: An Ecological Frontier. ESA Bulletin 61(4):203-209
1979Robert Treat PaineBloomington, Indiana; August 1981Truth in Ecology. ESA Bulletin 62(4):256-258
1980Arthur Wells CooperState College, Pennsylvania; August 1982Why Doesn't Anyone Listen to Ecologists And What Can ESA Do about It? ESA Bulletin 63(4):348-356
1981Gene Elden LikensGrand Forks, North Dakota; August 1983A Priority for Ecological Research. ESA Bulletin 64(4):234-243
1982Lawrence Carroll BlissFort Collins, Colorado; August 1984Ecologists Need to Increase Their Involvement in Society. ESA Bulletin 65(4):439-444
1983Francis Cope EvansMinneapolis, Minnesota; June 1985In Praise of Natural History. ESA Bulletin 66(4):455-460
1984Paul Gillan RisserSyracuse, New York; August 1986Ecological Literacy. ESA Bulletin 67(4):264-270
1985Richard Bruce RootColumbus, Ohio; August 1987The Challenge of Increasing Information and Specialization. ESA Bulletin 68(5):538-543
1986Jean Harmon LangenheimDavis, California, August 1988The Path and Progress of American Women Ecologists. ESA Bulletin 69(4):184-197
1987Margaret Bryan DavisToronto, Canada, August 1989Insights from Paleoecology on Global Change. ESA Bulletin 70(4):222-228
1988Harold A. MooneySnowbird, Utah, August 1990Toward the Study of the Earth's Metabolism. ESA Bulletin 71(4):221-228
1989Dennis Hal KnightSan Antonio, Texas, August 1991Congressional Incentives for Landscape Research. ESA Bulletin 72(4):195-203
1990Simon Asher LevinHonolulu, Hawaii, August 1992Sustaining Ecological Research. ESA Bulletin 73(4):213-218
1991H. Ronald PulliamMadison, Wisconsin; August 1993Human Population Growth and the Carrying Capacity Concept. ESA Bulletin 75(3):141-157
1992Jane LubchencoKnoxville, Tennessee; August 1994
1993Jerry Forest FranklinSnowbird, Utah, August 1995
1994Judy Lynn MeyerProvidence, Rhode Island; August 1996Beyond Gloom and Doom: Ecology for the Future. ESA Bulletin 77(4):199-205
1995Gordon Howell OriansAlbuquerque, New Mexico; August 1997Human Behavioral Ecology: 140 Years without Darwin Is Too Long. ESA Bulletin 79(1):15-28
1996James Hemphill BrownBaltimore, Maryland; August 1998
1997James A. MacMahonSpokane, Washington; August 1999
1998Katherine Lynn GrossSnowbird, Utah; August 2000It's a Good Time to Get Involved: Perspectives on the ESA, from Aldo Leopold to Today. ESA Bulletin 82(2):112-118
1999Diana Harrison Wall
2000Stephen Russell Carpenter
2001Pamela Anne Matson
2002Ann Marie Bartuska
2003William Harrison Schlesinger
2004Jerry Michael Melillo
2005Nancy Beth Grimm
2006Alan Paul Covich
2007Norman LeRoy Christensen Jr.
2008Alison Gail Power
2009Mary Eleanor Power
2010Francis Stuart Chapin III
2011Steward T.A. Pickett
2012Scott L. Collins
2013Jill Spann Baron
2014David William Inouye
2015Monica Turner
2016David Lodge
2017Richard Pouyat
2018Laura F. Huenneke
2019Osvaldo Sala
2020Kathleen Weathers
2021Dennis Ojima
2022Sharon K. Collinge
2023Shahid Naeem
2024Stephanie E. Hampton
2024Peter M. Groffman