The Kenneth E. Damann Research Award
Dr. Kenneth E. Damann and his wife Donelda Pietsch Damann established the Kenneth E. Damann Research Award in biology at SUNY Brockport to encourage undergraduate independent research in aquatic biology. After his passing in 1978, colleagues, friends, and students also contributed to the award that commemorates his career at the college.
Dr. and Mrs. Damann were high school sweethearts who grew up on nearby farms in Minnesota. Dr. Damann attended Kent State (OH) University, and then Northwestern (IL) University for his doctoral degree in botany. He studied algae in Lake Michigan and went on to serve as the microbiologist for the Chicago water treatment facility during Work War II.
Mrs. Damann worked as an accountant for an automotive dealership in the Twin Cities before their marriage. In 1946, Dr. Damann accepted a faculty position at Eastern Illinois University. While there, the couple undertook an extensive summer survey of Missouri River plankton. (That study was published in the National Technical Information Service publication, PB217288.)
During their time at Eastern Illinois, Dr. Damann advanced through the faculty ranks, becoming department chair and overseeing the department’s move to a new building. Mrs. Damann was a member of the local drama club, sang in her church choir, and was a member of her local chapter of PEO, all while raising four children.
In 1966, Dr. Damann accepted a position as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Brockport, where he followed his aquatic ecology interests at the college’s Fancher Campus. In the early 1970s, Dr. Damann accepted a two-year US-AID assignment in Ife, Nigeria, where he monitored the efficacy of the city’s water chlorination program. He returned to Brockport. After his passing in 1978re, Mrs. Damann returned to the family farm in Minnesota with her daughter Elizabeth.
Qualified applicants for the Kenneth E. Damann Research Award should be students enrolled in biology, chemistry, or earth science at the College, who are engaged in an independent study project in aquatic ecology. The scholarship selection committee for this award will determine which undergraduate independent study project in aquatic ecology is worthy of this award.