Richard William Timm (March 2, 1923 – September 11, 2020) was a

Catholic Priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, educator, zoologist, and development worker. He was the Superior of the

Congregation of Holy Cross , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = ...

in Dhaka and a member of the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...

of Jesus Province. He was also one of the founders of

Notre Dame College Notre Dame College (Notre Dame College of Ohio or NDC) is a private Roman Catholic college in South Euclid, Ohio. Established in 1922 as a women's college, it has been coeducational since January 2001. Notre Dame College offers 30 majors and ind ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He was the 6th principal (1970 to 1972) of Notre Dame College. Born with German ancestry from both sides on March 2, 1923, in

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana Metropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City Combined sta ...

, USA, Timm is the second of four siblings – elder brother Bob, who died on Okinawa in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and younger sisters Mary Jo Schiel and Genevieve Gantner.

Research works

Timm, as a biologist, conducted exclusive surveys on ''

Nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s'' and discovered over 250 new species. Timm's scientific expeditions involved a landscape spanning from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

Penguin Colonies to the

Mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

of South Asia. Many of his expeditions were confined in the area of the

Sundarbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly R ...

and other parts of South Asia but he covered many other parts of the world as well. His other expeditions include Africa, Europe, Antarctica and The Americas. Among others, Timm described the following taxa: * ''

Timmia parva ''Timmia parva'' is a species of nematode in the family Chromadoridae, described in 1952 by Richard William Timm Richard William Timm (March 2, 1923 – September 11, 2020) was a Catholic Priest, educator, zoologist, and development worker. ...

'' – marine nematode. * Two varieties of ''

Aphelenchoides ''Aphelenchoides'' is a genus of mycetophagous nematodes. Some species are plant pathogenic foliar nematodes. Taxonomy In 1961 Sanwal listed 33 species and provided a key. The most important species of these are ''Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi'' ...

'' – marine nematodes with Dr. Mary Franklyn. * ''Imponema'', ''Filiponema'' and ''Plutellonema'' – three new genera of earth nematodes with Dr. Armand Maggenti. * Two varieties of ''Megadontolaimus'' – a marine nematode genus from

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; bn, কক্সবাজার, Kôksbajar; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and district headquarters in Southeastern Bangladesh. It is located south of the city of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the na ...

. * The genus, '' Metasabatieria'', together with its type species, '' Metasabatieria primigena,'' from the Bay of Bengal. His zoological author abbreviation is Timm.

Works in spreading education

Father Richard Timm Building-Notre Dame College

Since 1952, Timm has been working in the education sector of first the east Bengal province of Pakistan and then Bangladesh. He was a recognized person for the operations of Notre Dame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in November 1949, the college is still carrying on with its reputation and quality and is one of the best educational institutions in Bangladesh by the official ranking. He also took the responsibility of the Principal of

for the term 1970-71 and worked as the Director of Studies as well. He was still connected to the college though not taking part in academic activities. He is also the founder of the Science Departments in Notre Dame College and the pioneer for the club activities. He is also the founder of both Notre Dame Debating Club and Notre Dame Science Club which are the first debating club and the first science club in Bangladesh. ''The Textbook of College Biology'' is a writing of Timm that served as a textbook for

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

i – Bangladeshi schools for many years. This text is actually an extension of a book by A. Bhuya of Dhaka Government College but not much of the original version was preserved in the extension. ''A Laboratory Manual for College Biology'' was a predecessor for the text, though didn't have the popularity due to the comparatively higher price.

Social development activities

Timm was the first planning officer of Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation(CORR) in 1970. He became the Director when the organization renamed itself to ''Caritas Bangladesh''. He guided the formation of ''The Association of the Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB)'' which later became the association of more than 130

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

of Bangladesh. He is considered to be the ''Father of NGO'' in Bangladesh. He served the Justice and Peace Commission as the executive secretary for almost 23 years from its inception in 1974.He conducted a study on over 1000 workers from 51 export-oriented ready-made garment factories while serving the JPC as the executive secretary. He evaluated the pay scale,

freedom of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membe ...

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

of the workers with the help of the students of

Notre Dame College, Dhaka Notre Dame College, Dhaka ( bn, নটর ডেম কলেজ, ঢাকা), also known as NDC, is a Catholic higher secondary school (in the Indian subcontinent, as in the United Kingdom, higher secondary schools comprising the 11th and 12 ...

and

Holy Cross College, Dhaka Holy Cross College (HCC) ( bn, হলি ক্রস কলেজ) is a Catholic higher-secondary school for girls, located at Tejgaon in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It serves students of class 11 and class 12. It was founded in 1950 by the Sisters of ...

; later, the results were published on the mainstream media in Bangladesh. He visited the

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম, Parbotto Chottogram), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, are group of districts within the Chittagong Division in southeast ...

and authored three books where he focused on the deprivation of

land rights Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...

of the indigenous people of those areas. He revealed the confidential plan of the Bangladesh Govt. to rehabilitate 200 poor families from different areas of Bangladesh to the hill tracts; the govt. allegedly sent letters to each district of the country to provide land of 5 to 10 acres to each family; and later, these families were alleged to take land from the indigenous inhabitants forcefully, where the army and the local governing structures allegedly helped them due to the local politics - according to his books. He founded the

South Asia Forum for Human Rights The South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR) is a South Asia-focused human rights organization based in Kathmandu whose mission is to "promote respect for universal standards of human rights with emphasis on universality and interdependence of huma ...

(SAFHR) was the chief of it for 3 years at a stretch. He also founded CORR The Jute Works. Timm founded the ''Coordinator Council for Human Rights in Bangladesh (CCHRB)'' served as the president for three terms till 1993. He also worked with Justice KM Sobhan to assess the human rights in Myanmar, specially the human rights violation of the local workers deployed in the extension of the pipeline of

Yadana Gas Field The Yadana gas field is an offshore gas field in the Andaman Sea. It is located about offshore to the nearest landfall in Myanmar.Yadana means "treasure" in Burmese. The gas field is an important source of revenue for the Myanmar Army. Gas fro ...

and presented the results to the Committee on International Relations of the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Activities during the Liberation War of Bangladesh

Activities during the war

Timm expressed his opinion about the incidents and against the genocide on the

liberation war of Bangladesh The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...

through his writing. He emphasized the difficult situations of civilians and the violation of human rights. His letters written to Rohde served to build public opinion around the world and especially in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

against the war in Bangladesh. He also conducted relief works for the distressed at the time of the war.

Activities on reconstruction

After the

, Timm actively took part in the newborn country's reconstruction work together with the UN,

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

, CORR (The Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation, later Caritas) and CRS. The rehabilitation effort was conducted among the homeless and those who have lost all in the war.

Disaster response

On November 12, 1970, a great

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

struck the coastal areas of East Pakistan and killed at least 50,000 people. Timm, assisted by the students of

, CORR (The Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation, later Caritas) and HELP (Heartland Emergency Life-Saving Project), conducted several relief expeditions in the affected areas. The response was among the biggest of those taken by Non-government people. On other disasters, including the great flood of 1998, Notre Dame College and Caritas both participated in the relief effort both in and out of

Dhaka City Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

under the participation and influence of Timm.

Death

Timm died in South Bend, Indiana on September 11, 2020.

Publications

Timm's publications include numerous research papers and books.

Books

* * ''The Plant-Parasitic Nematodes of Thailand and The Philippines'' published by

SEATO The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, the Philipp ...

in 1965

Awards and recognitions

Timm was awarded the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

in 1987 for International Understanding. In response to his activities for development, Timm was honored with the citizenship from three different governments. Among the many varieties of

s he discovered, the Marine Nematode ''

'' was named after Timm himself.

References

External links

Ramon Magsaysay Award Citation for Richard Timm

Biography of R. W. Timm at www.rmaward.asia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timm, Richard William 1923 births 2020 deaths 20th-century zoologists American people of German descent American emigrants to Pakistan Bangladeshi educators Bangladeshi Christians Bangladeshi people of German descent Naturalised citizens of Bangladesh Congregation of Holy Cross University of Notre Dame alumni Bangladeshi zoologists 21st-century zoologists People from Michigan City, Indiana Academic staff of Notre Dame College, Dhaka Catholic University of America alumni Nematologists University of California faculty American Roman Catholic missionaries Bangladeshi activists Bangladeshi microbiologists American marine biologists American microbiologists Writers from Indiana