Allen Morgan (ornithologist)

Following graduation from Bowdoin in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science in biology, Morgan took a job as an insurance underwriter at Aetna Casualty & Surety Company in Hartford, Connecticut.

He left Hartford in 1950 to partner with his father, a life insurance salesman in Boston, Massachusetts, but was recalled to the Marine Corps later in the year.

In 1956 Richard Borden, the newly appointed president of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, asked Morgan to join its board of directors.

Morgan traveled widely on behalf of Mass Audubon and lobbied successfully for conservation legislation at both the state and federal level.

Mass Audubon awards this prestigious prize to "an individual who demonstrates the dedication, passion, and daring that Morgan exhibited in protecting the natural world."

He served on or consulted with a number of environmental committees, boards, and government commissions, including the Sudbury Valley Trustees, The Environmental Policy Center (Washington, D.C.), the Center for Energy Policy, the New England Wildflower Preservation Society, the Wayland Conservation Commission, the Elbanobscot Foundation, Inc., the National Wildlife Federation, the national Rural Environment and Conservation Advisory Board—Department of Agriculture, the Massachusetts Conservation Council, and the Coastal Wetland Action Committee.

He expanded the SVT membership base, hired a staff, and supervised the acquisition of significant amounts of open space throughout the Sudbury River watershed while continuing his lecturing, consulting, and writing until his death.