John Nathan Cobb : founding Director of the College of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle

Marine Fisheries Review, Summer, 2003 by J. Richard Dunn

Cobb taught, at various times, Introduction to Fisheries, Fishery Methods, Fishery Problems, and History of Fisheries. (56) During Cobb's directorship, the faculty remained small and underwent considerable turnover, likely caused in part by the low salaries paid to instructors. The number of faculty listed in course catalogs from 1919-20 to 1929-30 ranged from two to five, including Cobb (Fig. 6). (57) Numerous "Associated Faculty," drawn from other U.W. departments or from industry or government agencies were listed in the Colleges entry in U.W. Course Catalogs. An Advisory Board composed of 11 individuals from the commercial fishing industry, including Miller Freeman, and from state and federal fisheries agencies was listed in the 1919-1920 course catalog. Most of the faculty in the College were educated at the University of Washington, in whole or part, which resulted in a lack of diversity in faculty training, a problem that plagued the College for about 50 years. (58)

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Cobb had trouble recruiting experienced faculty for the College. For example, he tried to entice Willis Horton Rich (1885-1972), a Professor at Stanford University and renowned researcher on salmon biology, to the U.W. without success, though, offering Rich $3,000 to head a proposed "Department of Fish Culture." (59)

The design of the curriculum largely followed that suggested earlier to the U.W. President by Professor Kincaid and previously outlined by Cobb. (38,47) Two curricular tracks were initially established, fish culture and fisheries technology (Table 2). The two lines of inquiry were quite similar for the first two years, differing mainly in that the requirements for the technology major (Fig. 7) included twice as many chemistry credits as did the fish culture major. The number of fisheries courses offered increased from 12 in the initial year of the College to 24 in the academic year 1928-29 (Table 3). (60)

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Enrollment in the College was strong during the first decade of its existence, ranging from 30 to 117 students a year (Table 4). The College initially offered Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees and, later; a Doctor of Philosophy Degree. The first graduating class in Fisheries was in 1922, with five B.S. degrees conferred as well as the first Ph.D. degree, awarded to Ray Clough, then on the College of Fisheries faculty. Identical numbers of degrees were apparently issued each year in 1923, 1924, and 1925. The first M.S. degree was awarded in 1924 to Clarence Anderson, also on the faculty of the College. During Cobb's reign as Director and Dean, there were 31 B.S. degrees granted (from 1919-20 through the 1928-29 academic years) as well as one M.A., eight M.S., and two Ph.D. degrees. (61) Thus, only about 42 students graduated during the first decade of the College.

The courses offered remained similar during the first decade of the College's existence, with one notable exception. A new series of courses, not associated with fisheries, was started beginning in the fall of 1922. Seven courses on Fruit and Vegetable Preservation were offered that year. Carl R. Fellers was listed in the catalog as "Associate Professor of Food Preservation" and Ray W. Clough was listed as "Lecturer of Food Preservation." Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees were offered in Food Preservation, and a second option, "Commercial Canning and Curing of Fruits and Vegetables," was available as an academic major the following year. This option was labeled Food Processing instead of Fish Technology. (62)