Our dear friend and colleague Dr. Gerald Francis Shields, class of 1966, died unexpectedly in Helena on April 1. He was a devoted husband to his wife Pat, as well as an internationally respected evolutionary research biologist, and a gifted teacher with a lifelong interest in ornithology. His academic career spanned five decades. He was the James J. Manion Endowed Chair of Biological Sciences at Carroll College (1999-2017) and was Professor Emeritus in Biology and Research at the Institute of Arctic Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks (1975-1999). He received the Carroll College Academic Achievement Award in 1996, and Distinguished Scholar Award in 2017. He was 79. See full obituary
Memorial Ceremony - Friday, April 21
Memorial services will take place on Friday, April 21, 2023, at the Carroll College PE Center Conference Room on the Carroll College campus from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.
Memories of Gerry
Dr. Gerald “Gerry” Shields was a consummate professor and researcher. I don’t know if I have met an individual over my many years at Carroll who was more engaged and enthusiastic about his work—be it teaching, advising, research or writing. Gerry loved what he did and he did what he loved. I can’t think of a better way to live one’s life. Gerry loved his students and was so proud of their accomplishments. He knew who was going to medical school or graduate school and where they would be attending. Gerry was the ideal example of Carroll’s motto, “Not for school, but for life.” I have traveled to many places in the world with Gerry and his wife, Pat, and the experiences were far richer because they were part of it. It is difficult to encapsulate the respect, care and admiration I have for Gerry and how much I will miss him.
~ Candie Cain '82, Office of Institutional Advancement (retired)
Gerry was a remarkably dedicated student, teacher and most of all, scientist. What he needed to learn for one of his projects, he would study. He redefined the Manion Chair through his efforts to inspire and serve students. He never lost his enthusiasm, curiosity, and precise application of technique in the study of the natural world. On the Shiripuno River deep in the Amazon, after a friend guided us toward the sound of a rare bird, Gerry was stunned into giddiness when we spotted a Great Jacamar. He brought the same sense of wonder to all his scholarly projects combined with a meticulous attitude. Gerry often asked me to review his statistics which he had calculated by hand. After teasing him about the fact that we now have computers, I was always impressed by his accuracy and his fastidious handwritten notes. He published broadly on the topics of genetics, evolution, and speciation involving organisms as diverse as blackflies, humans, birds, and bears. I will miss our collaborations.
~ Grant Hokit, Ph.D., Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
I first met Gerry in 1992 in our Bering Land Bridge graduate seminar at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Students and faculty from geology, wildlife biology, archeology, and paleontology gathered weekly to read, discuss, and share our passion for all things Beringia. At the time, Gerry and his students were blowing the doors off with their studies of bear DNA and evidence of glacial refugia in Beringia during the last ice age. Those seminars went on for years, sometimes on campus, sometimes in the homes of faculty. It was from Gerry and others that I learned how geneticists and geologists can work together, and sometimes must work together to fully understand how our world works. Those years, and mentors like Gerry and other giants of Beringian biogeography, have shaped my entire career. I was so delighted to find Gerry here when I came to Carroll College. He was a fellow Alaskan ex-pat, interdisciplinary scientist, and friend. He stopped by my office often to shoot the breeze, talk about science, rant about politics, ask for help on computer graphics, and just be a wonderful colleague and friend. I will miss him dearly.
~ Patricia Heiser, Ph.D., Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
In addition to being a supportive friend and colleague, Gerry was the consummate scientist: intensely curious, undeniably passionate about his research, and utterly dedicated to learning how the natural world works. He was a sparkling example to our students of how to be a life-long learner. The undergraduate research lab will be a less vibrant environment without Gerry there patiently coaxing information from his beloved black flies. His benevolent presence at Carroll will be sincerely missed.
~Brandon Sheafor, Ph.D., Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
He was always so interested in research and asked questions out of genuine curiosity about what we were doing, especially of my students when we were working in the undergrad research lab, and I know it made my students feel special and important.
~ Ashley Beck, Ph.D., Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Gerry Shields was the reason I came to Carroll College. After he gave a presentation on his doctorate research on dark-eyed juncos for the local Audubon group, I reached out to him – a self-taught naturalist he barely knew – and asked if he'd be willing to meet with me to advise me on the field-based bird research I was doing. He not only generously made time to meet with me – he also introduced me to the Environmental Science faculty, and when he learned that I didn't yet have an undergraduate degree, he encouraged me to consider Carroll. Gerry retired shortly thereafter, and I never had the opportunity to take a class with him. But I continued to see him on campus from time to time over the years. In my experience of him, Gerry was a brilliant, independent thinker whose curiosity and love of science was contagious. But much more than that, Gerry was a humble, kind man who took a deep, genuine interest in his students and in the people around him. The impact Gerry made on me, and on the Helena community, was truly non scholae, sed vitae in the profoundest sense. I'm going to miss you, Gerry.
~ Shane Sater, Carroll class of 2022
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