Elmer Ray Noble, (16 January 1909 – 8 March 2001) was professor of zoology at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

, and an internationally recognized

protozoologist Protozoology is the study of protozoa, the "animal-like" (i.e., motile and heterotrophic) protists. The Protozoa are considered to be a subkingdom of Protista. They are free-living organisms that are found in almost every habitat. All humans have pr ...

and

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it ...

. Noble was born in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, to American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

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 The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

, an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in zoology, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

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. In 1978, the former

Biological Sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

Building at Santa Barbara was renamed Elmer Ray Noble Hall in his honor. In addition to his teaching and research, he is remembered for the first description of the pathogenic

myxosporea Myxosporea is a class of microscopic parasites, belonging to the Myxozoa clade within Cnidaria. They have a complex life cycle which comprises vegetative forms in two hosts, an aquatic invertebrate (generally an annelid but sometimes a bryozoa ...

n, ''

Ceratomyxa shasta ''Ceratonova shasta'' (syn. ''Ceratomyxa shasta'') is a myxosporean parasite that infects salmonid fish on the Pacific coast of North America. It was first observed at the Crystal Lake Hatchery, Shasta County, California, and has now been report ...

''. His contributions to this field have also been recognized with the patronymy of two species of

myxozoa Myxozoa (etymology: Greek: μύξα ''myxa'' "slime" or "mucus" + thematic vowel o + ζῷον ''zoon'' "animal") is a subphylum of aquatic cnidarian animals – all obligate parasites. It contains the smallest animals ever known to have lived. O ...

n, ''Myxidium noblei'' Zubchenko & Krasin, 1980 and ''Myxobolus noblei'' (Sarkar, 1982). According to both the

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...

and the Harvard Herbarium, Noble was also a botanist.

References

1909 births 2001 deaths University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty American parasitologists American botanists Identical twins American twins Presidents of the American Society of Parasitologists {{US-biologist-stub