Elmer Noble

Who was Elmer Noble?

Elmer Ray Noble, was professor of zoology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an internationally recognized protozoologist and parasitologist.

Noble was born in Pyongyang, Korea, to American Methodist missionary parents, William Arthur Noble and Mattie Wilcox Noble. He lived with his family in Korea until 1927, when he and his identical twin brother, Glenn Arthur Noble, moved to the United States to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in zoology, an M.A. in zoology, and a Ph.D. in protozoology and parasitology.

Noble joined the UC Santa Barbara faculty in 1936, where he worked for 38 years before retiring in 1974.

At UC Santa Barbara, he was, in turn; Chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, Dean of Liberal Arts, Acting Provost, Acting Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, and Vice Chancellor for Graduate Affairs.

He held administrative offices in the following professional societies:

President, Society of Southern California Parasitologists

Vice-President, American Microscopical Society

President, Society of Protozoologists

President, American Society of Parasitologists

In 1971, Noble and his twin co-authored: PARASITOLOGY. The Biology of Animal Parasites. Elmer R. Noble and Glenn A. Noble. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia.