Dr. Robert L. Rausch, honourary Doctor of Laws degree recipient, awaits presentation at Convocation held at Centennial Auditorium.

Bio/Historical Note: Robert Lloyd Rausch (1921-2012) was an American parasitologist, mammalogist, and veterinary physician. Rausch began his academic studies at the Ohio State University, where in 1942 he earned a bachelor's degree in zoology and entomology and in 1945 he attained the title DVM, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Rausch continued studies of parasitology and wildlife management led him to complete a MSc at Michigan State University in 1946 and a PhD at the University of Wisconsin in 1949. In 1948 Rausch took the position of senior assistant scientist at the Alaska Health Research Center (AHRC) of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) in Anchorage in the Territory of Alaska. His job at the time was to research zoonoses in the indigenous population. As part of his research he completed extensive fieldwork in Brookskette, the North Slope region and St. Lawrence Island. He spent a lot of time with the Iñupiat, whose support assisted him with his research. From 1967-1974 Rausch was head of the department for infectious diseases of the AHRC in Fairbanks and also taught at the University of Alaska Fairbanks until 1975 when he began work in Canada in the department of microbiology of Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1978 he joined the University of Washington and taught until 1992 in the departments of Pathology and Comparative Medicine. Upon retirement Rausch was named Professor Emeritus. In addition to his research work and teaching, Rausch served as a consultant for numerous national and international organizations related to matters of public health, zoonotic diseases, and polar biology. In 2011 Rausch was added to the American Society of Parasitology's list of "Eminent Parasitologists" - an elite list of just 11 people. Additionally he received honourary degrees from by the University of Saskatchewan (Doctor of Laws), the University of Alaska (Doctor of Science), and the Universität Zürich (Doktor der Veterinärmedizin). He was also honored by the Iñupiaq people of Alaska for his work in the Arctic. Rausch died on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in 2012.