Princeton University

The curator of natural history at the New Jersey State Museum and Princeton alumnus David Parris ’70 has notified the Department of Geosciences that Dr. Donald Baird, a longtime curator of the Princeton Natural History Museum, has passed away.  

The museum is documented to have been in existence since 1805.  Dr. Baird’s curatorship lasted from 1973 till 1988. During that time, the museum’s collections of biological, geological, and archeological exhibits were open to the public for no charge at Guyot Hall. Following a long-line of curators, Dr. Baird’s legacy can still be seen by the many display cases throughout the hallways of Guyot Hall. These cases are filled with various drawings, diagrams, animal skeletons, fossils, minerals, gemstones, and rocks. Some items are so exquisite that Princeton art students often come to sketch their remains. 

Dr. Baird was known at Princeton for his paleontological research, as well as, his encouragement to students to pursue careers in geosciences and paleontology.

A statement has been released from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology on Dr. Baird's behalf.

Chair Bess Ward joins with the many Geosciences faculty, alumni, and staff who knew Dr.Baird in expressing deep sympathy on the news of his passing.