William Jennings Hargis, Jr., Emeritus Professor of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, passed away on 17 October 2008. He is survived by his wife, Marcia; 6 children; and 15 grandchildren. He will long be remembered for his dynamic leadership in building the Virginia Institute of Marine Science into one of the nation's largest research and graduate education facilities focusing on the coastal ocean and estuarine science.
Dr. Hargis was born 24 November 1923 in the southwestern corner of Virginia. He fell in love with Chesapeake Bay during childhood summers on Tangier Island. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology at the University of Richmond and a Ph.D. at Florida State University. He began his research career at the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory in Gloucester Point in 1955. Dr. Hargis became director of the laboratory in 1959, a position he held for 22 years....