The papers of Alfred Beeton--while covering his entire career from his days as a graduate-student teaching fellow to his Directorship of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory--are most comprehensive in their documentation of Beeton's activities from 1966 to 1976, during his tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nevertheless, the papers give insight into Beeton's long career, with its wide range of interests and numerous activities. The collection is organized into eight series: Correspondence, Professional Activities and Inquiries, Drafts of and Information on Talks and Manuscripts, Course Material, Army Corps of Engineers Dredging Studies, Toxic Substance Control Commission, Court Activities and Depositions, and Topical.
Alfred M. Beeton is a leading researcher in the study of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes, along the U.S.-Canadian border. In addition to academic careers at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Beeton has served in a number of positions as an investigator for and advisor to organizations making policy for the Great Lakes.
Born in 1927, Beeton moved to Michigan as a child. He received his B.S., (1952) M.S., (1954) and Ph.D. (1958) degrees from the University of Michigan, specializing in limnology and aquatic zoology. He began teaching in the years immediately preceding and following his doctorate, acting as a teaching fellow, instructor, and lecturer at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University from 1952 to 1961. Also during this time period, Beeton began work as a researcher at the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Great Lakes Fisheries Laboratory, where he was among the first scientists raising the alarm about the 'death' of Lake Erie due to pollution. Working at the Laboratory from 1957 to 1966, Beeton was promoted to Chief of the Laboratory's Environmental Research Program in 1959, a position which he held until he moved on to an academic appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
From 1966 to 1976 Beeton served as a professor and administrator at UW-Milwaukee. In addition to his academic appointment, Beeton also was the Associate Director of the University's Center for Great Lakes Studies from 1966 to 1973, and Associate Dean for Research in the Graduate School from 1973 to his move back to Michigan in 1976. In these capacities, Beeton was highly-sought after as a consultant. While at Wisconsin, Beeton also served as a consultant to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, studying the effect of Corps' dredging activities on pollution in the Great Lakes (1968-1970). He also served as an expert witness for the City of Chicago and the State of Minnesota (et al.) in litigation against various steel, mining, and electric companies for their pollution of Lakes Michigan and Superior (1968-1974). Additionally, Beeton worked as a member of numerous committees regarding the Great Lakes, and as head of the International Biological Program's task force to identify Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin aquatic areas for preservation.
Moreover, Beeton contributed to a number of governmental projects during this time period, notably the U.S. Government's Foreign Currency Program, as a limnological researcher. In addition to serving as a consultant for various Environmental Protection Agency projects from 1973 to 1983, Beeton was the Principal Investigator on limnological studies of Lake Skadar, Yugoslavia, from 1975 to 1982 as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Foreign Currency Program. Beeton also worked with the Foreign Currency Program as an investigator on an earlier phase of the Skadar project, from 1972 to 1974, and on projects in India, Israel, and Pakistan from 1963 to 1965, when the Program was under the auspices of the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.
After moving back to Michigan, Beeton was a professor and administrator at the University of Michigan from 1976 to 1986. His duties included teaching appointments with the School of Natural Resources and the College of Engineering, the Directorships of both the University's Great Lakes and Marine Waters Center and its Michigan Sea Grant College Program, and memberships in various committees. Notably, Beeton was Chair of the NOAA/GLERL Building Committee. (GLERL is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, stationed in Ann Arbor. The Building Committee planned the creation of GLERL's new building on the University of Michigan's North Campus.) Beeton continued his outside professional work during this time period, working with such organizations as the National Sea Grant Association (and serving as its President from 1983 to 1984), and the International Joint Commission for the Great Lakes.
In 1986, Beeton left full-time teaching, and from 1986 to 1996 served as the Director of GLERL. He continued teaching part-time, holding Adjunct professorships with the School of Public Health, the School of Natural Resources, and the College of Engineering. He continued his professional work, for example serving from 1986 to 1991 as Co-chairman of the International Joint Commission for the Great Lakes' Science Advisory Board, and from 1987 to 1989 as a Commissioner on the State of Michigan's Toxic Substance Control Commission.
In 1996, Beeton received an honorary degree in science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. From 1996 to 2002, he served as Acting Chief Scientist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. After his retirement, Beeton served as a caretaker for the Michigan Nature Association and served on the boards of the Detroit Audubon Society, and the Michigan Sierra Club.
Beeton continued to present until 2003 and published papers through 2009. He passed away on April 24, 2019.
