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Dr. Roy C. Heidinger:

Roy Heidinger studied under Dr. William Lewis and received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in 1970. His fisheries-related experience began in 1965 as a research assistant and continues through the present time. Roy began teaching fisheries management in 1970, and rose through the ranks from Assistant Professor in 1971, to Associate Professor in 1975, and to Full Professor in 1980. He was appointed Director of the Cooperative Fisheries Research Laboratory at Southern Illinois University in 1986 and continued in that capacity until his retirement in 1999. While Director of the laboratory, he developed plans that promoted expansion of the laboratory's research scope and oversaw development of facilities including a sizable wet lab, a 90-pond research pond complex, and special buildings to house fisheries equipment and boats.

Roy’s research with black bass management took him to many areas of North America. In Cuba, prior to the strained political relationships that still exist today, he was consulted to evaluate several largemouth bass reservoirs as potential trophy fisheries that would help increase tourism in the financially stressed country. Although well known for his research with black bass early in his career (he wrote the largemouth bass synopsis for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), interest in teaching and research expanded his management expertise to include many warmwater, coolwater, endangered, and exotic species in rivers and reservoirs throughout the Midwest. His research and teaching of fish aging methods to more than 50 graduate students that have become biologists for many state agencies promoted the alteration of aging techniques for many fish species across North America. Dr. Heidinger helped develop a chemical marking method (oxytetracycline) now widely used for fish marking; investigated the use of threadfin shad, gizzard shad, and inland silversides as prey for sport fishes; and was instrumental in developing strategies for stocking ponds with hybrid sunfish.

Dr. Roy Heidinger clearly is dedicated to the fisheries management profession and will likely be contributing to it for many years to come.

Elected into the NATIONAL FISHERIES HALL OF EXCELLENCE, 2005

Executive Committee, Fisheries Management Section, American Fisheries Society