Association of Midwestern College Biology Teachers (AMCBT): Proceedings of Annual Conferences, 1967-1972

INTRODUCTION The Jack Bennett Papers were donated to the University Archives on January 8, 1993, and additional materials subsequently added.  Literary rights are dedicated to the public.  There are no restrictions on access to the collection. SCOPE AND CONTENT The papers of Jack Bennett date from 1946 to 2009 and primarily document his career in the Biology Department at NIU.  Included here is information on his participation in the Association of Midwest College Biology Teachers, on his various research grants, and the BSCS journal.  Dr. Bennett also relates the history of the biology club, the origin of Phi Sigma at NIU and the local chapter of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.  There is also a history of the adult education course “The Human Enterprise.”  Articles and obituaries on many of the NIU biology faculty are also located here, as well as information concerning the dismissal of Dr. L. Verdelle Clark, and documentation of the Emil Roy dismissal case from Bennett’s viewpoint as president of the local faculty union.  Researchers interested in faculty unions should also see the Faculty Records Collection, UA 19. Bennett’s correspondence to his parents in 1946 relates his experience with the military and military hospitals.  The remainder of the correspondence is primarily from his parents Leah and Cecil, and covers the period 1951 until Leah’s death in 1982.  Researchers interested in Jack’s interest in airplanes should also see Regional Collections RC 272 - Civil Air Patrol DeKalb Area Composite Squadron #11271; RC 306 - DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport Advisory Board Collection; and RC 310 - B-J Aviation, Inc. Records. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Cecil Jackson “Jack” Bennett was born on October 4, 1927 in Eau Claire, the son of Leah and Cecil H. Bennett, and raised in Augusta, Wisconsin.  Jack received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin [Madison] in 1949, his M.A. from Washington University [St. Louis] in 1953, and his Ph.D. in 1959 from the University of Wisconsin.  He began his career at Northern Illinois University in 1957 as an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and became an Associate Professor in 1962 and a full Professor in 1975.  For two summers (1963 and 1964) he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Washington University School of Medicine.  Bennett belonged to a number of professional organizations, holding offices in many of them.  He also published many journal articles, abstracts and notes and did a number of professional reviews. Dr. Bennett is also a licenced pilot, built his own airplane, and was a member of the Civil Air Patrol.  He married Katherine “Kitty” Wilson in 1951, and they had two children Scott Jackson in 1952, and Carroll Anne in 1955.  Bennett later married Donna Fenwick in 1974.  He retired from Northern Illinois University in August of 1990 and as of 2009 still resides in DeKalb.