John Nathan Cobb

John Nathan Cobb (February 20, 1868 – January 13, 1930) was an American author, naturalist, conservationist, canneryman, and educator.

[4][6] In 1895, Cobb successfully passed a civil service examination for the U.S. Government, qualifying him for a position as stenographer and typist at a salary of $720 per year.

Still based in Washington, D.C., Cobb traveled to Alaska each summer to observe the commercial salmon fisheries and to collect catch statistics.

[6] In the spring of 1912, Cobb joined the Union Fish Company in San Francisco in a management position at a considerable increase in salary.

He wrote articles that appeared in the journal under his byline, such as "Utilizing waste products in the salmon industry"[13] and "New methods in Pacific coast fisheries.

[18][19] Active membership in this new organization enabled Cobb to meet and to socialize with the leading men in both the scientific and commercial aspects of the Pacific coast fisheries.

But a position with the latter agency was not forthcoming, so in 1917 he joined the Alaska Packers Association (APA) of San Francisco, California, at a salary nearly twice what he was receiving from the Pacific Fisherman.

[1] During the salmon fishing season in Alaska in the summers of 1917 and 1918, Cobb traveled north to visit the various APA concerns.

[1][2] The origin of the idea of a fisheries school at the University of Washington is unknown, but Miller Freeman, owner of Pacific Fisherman magazine and Cobb's one-time supervisor, likely played a vital role in the establishment of this new College.

In his memoirs, Freeman wrote that he used the editorial pages of Pacific Fisherman to advocate the establishment of a school of fisheries at the University of Washington as early as 1914.

Cobb responded to Suzzallo on December 26, 1918, with his application for the position of director, and he noted that he had merely a common school education.

The announcement indicated the College would offer a four-year course of instruction in Fish Culture and Fisheries Technology, and briefly described the potential job market for graduates.

The announcement further stated that the College would, so far as possible, "assist students in securing employment during summer vacations" in various aspects of the fishing industry, hatcheries, and elsewhere.

[1] The new college apparently began life housed in two temporary wooden buildings along the Lake Washington Ship Canal at the southern margin of the UW campus.

[23] The College soon relocated to other "temporary" housing located just north of the present UW Medical Center, where it remained until new quarters were built in the early 1950s.

[1] During Cobb's directorship, the faculty remained small and underwent considerable turnover, likely caused in part by the low salaries paid to instructors.

[1] The design of the curriculum largely followed that suggested earlier to the UW President by Professor Kincaid and previously outlined by Cobb.

Cobb published several articles about the College[24][25][26] and gave talks about fisheries to various clubs and organizations in Seattle as well as towns in outlying areas.

[1] After spending some time in the university system, Cobb became aware that the college was not held in high esteem by many of his colleagues, likely because of its applied emphasis and lack of scholarly endeavor.

In 1927, he began to search for a qualified ichthyologist to teach, conduct research, and to begin a systematic fish collection in the College.

"[2] He apparently antagonized the faculty, but the hostility of his colleagues did not surface until Cobb's incapacitation due to ill health in 1929.

In a ten-page memorandum titled "Confidential: Conditions at the College of Fisheries" and signed "Staff," the authors laid out a series of complaints against the Dean.

They criticized Cobb's work on passage of salmon over dams complaining that he was unqualified to do so because he lacked training as a scientist and was neither a biologist nor an engineer.

He was ill for many months and spent his final days in the warmer climate of La Jolla, California, where he died on January 13, 1930, at the age of 61.

[1][2][29] Shortly after Cobb's death, Washington State Governor Roland Hill Hartley (1864‒1952) appointed a new President of the University, Matthew Lyle Spencer (1881‒1969).

[2] Through self-education, work, and ambition, John Cobb rose from unpretentious beginnings to become dean in a major university.

His career was testimony not only to the democratic ideals of the United States, but it was evidence of his competence and an affirmation of the high level of respect in which he was held by his peers.

By the time of his death in 1930, however, it became apparent that his educational philosophy was out of date and was not accepted by the new University administration because of the College's failure to emphasize scholarly achievement.

[2] Cobb was a well-known "professional" naturalist of his day and his reputation was based on his keen knowledge of the commercial fisheries industry which was reflected in his many publications.

She was the longest-serving ship of the NOAA fleet and its predecessors at the time she left service, and has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 2009.