Edwin Harris Colbert

Who was Edwin Harris Colbert?

Edwin Harris "Ned" Colbert was a distinguished American vertebrate paleontologist and prolific researcher and author.

Born in Clarinda, Iowa, he grew up in Maryville, Missouri. He received his A.B. from the University of Nebraska, then his Masters and Ph.D. from Columbia University, finishing in 1935. He married Margaret Matthew, daughter of the eminent paleontologist William Diller Matthew, in 1933. She became a noted artist, illustrator, and sculptor who specialized in visualizing extinct species. The couple had five sons together. The young family moved to Leonia, New Jersey, in 1937 and lived there for decades.

Among the positions Colbert held was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History for 40 years, and Professor Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontogy at Columbia University. He was a protégé of Henry Fairfield Osborn, and a foremost authority on the Dinosauria.

For his work, Siwalik Mammals in the American Museum of Natural History, Colbert was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1935.