Dr. Henry H. Hildebrand (1922-2003)

Dr. Henry H. Hildebrand was a fisheries biologist who did much of his research out of University of Corpus Christi (now Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi). He was instrumental in the establishment of the Marine Science Program at TAMU-CC.

Excerpt from Dr. Hildebrand's Obiturary written by Dr. Wes Tunnell:

"(Henry) Hildebrand's research while in Texas included groundbreaking work on the Laguna Madre of Tamaulipas in Mexico, the fauna of the penaeid shrimp grounds in the western and southern Gulf of Mexico, red tides in Texas and Mexico, oil and tar on beaches, baseline and environmental monitoring in the Laguna Madre of Texas and Oso Bay in relation to a power plant start-up, and brine discharges by the petroleum industry in Texas streams. Most felt his greatest scientific achievement was finding the nesting grounds for the Kemp's ridley.

Hildebrand's research was not limited to Texas, however, or even the United States. He studied the king crab fishery in the Bering Sea, the cod fishery in Ungava Bay, Quebec, and he made countless trips to Mexico and Central America. Beginning in the late 1950's or early 1960's, Hildebrand took yearly trips to Mexico and British Honduras, now Belize, with a dozen or so students in tow. He studied the coral reefs, seagrass beds, oyster reefs, as well as many other habitats. Additionally, he taught his students about the culture and history of these areas and made a point to visit the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Palenque."

Relevant to the biota of the Gulf of Mexico, Dr. Hildebrand has published the following:

Hildebrand, H. H. 1954. A study of the fauna of the brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus Ives) grounds in the Western Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas, Publications of the Institute of Marine Science 3(2): 233–366.