Marcus Ward Lyon Jr.
Marcus Ward Lyon Jr. (February 5, 1875 – May 19, 1942) was an American
mammalogist,
bacteriologist, and
pathologist. He was born into a military family, and demonstrated an early interest in
zoology by collecting local wildlife around his father's army posts. He graduated from
Brown University in 1897, and continued his studies at
George Washington University while working part-time at the
United States National Museum (USNM). At the same time, he taught at
Howard University Medical School and later
George Washington University Medical School. He received his Ph.D. from
George Washington University in 1913. In 1919, he and his wife, Martha, moved to
South Bend, Indiana to join a newly opened clinic. Prior to moving, Lyon had published many papers on mammalogy, both during and after his tenure at the USNM. In these papers, he had formally
described six
species, three
genera, and one
family. Once in South Bend, he began to publish medical studies, too, but continued his work in mammalogy, with a particular focus on the local fauna of Indiana. He published more than 160 papers during his career.
Lyon acquired the rank of
major in the
Medical Reserve Corps during World War I, and was appointed president of the
American Society of Mammalogists from 1931 to 1932. He was a member of
Sigma Xi, the
Society of American Bacteriologists, the
Indiana Academy of Science, and the
Biological Society of Washington. Lyon became a
conservationist later in life.
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