The death of Dorothy Miller Matala on December 13, 1962, was a serious professional loss to science education throughout Iowa and the entire United States . It was also a deep personal loss to her colleagues and many friends.

Dr. Matala was in Indiana on April 16, 1914. After attending public schools in Indiana and Florida , she received her A.B. degree from Indiana Central College in 1935, her A.M. from Indiana University in 1938, and Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1946.

Following the receipt of her doctorate, Dr. Matala joined the faculty of the State College of Iowa. She had taught previously in high schools and junior colleges in Indiana . Her tenure at State College of Iowa was marked by a variety of outstanding contributions. She was sought widely throughout our state as a science consultant by elementary and secondary schools. She was a member of the first staff of the Iowa Teachers Conservation Camp and was very influential in planning and executing its original program and later developments. She was one of the first in Iowa to work with educational television- both in the form of broadcast teaching and closed-circuit teaching. She directed the first summer science institute for secondary teachers supported y the National Science Foundation on the campus of State College of Iowa and contributed significantly to the plans and administration of all the science institutes that have been conducted there. She was respected highly by students as an effective classroom teacher.

Dr. Matala's professional activities and interests were wide and varied. She served in a number of capacities with the Girl Scouts of America. She was recognized in a number of ways as an authority in conservation education and in outdoor education. She was elected and appointed to a number of important offices of the National Association of Biology Teachers. For many years she was a member of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and during her last year of her life she served on its Executive Committee. As a crowning recognition of her many exceptional services to biological education, the American Institute of Biological Sciences awarded her an Extraordinary Distinguished Service Citation on August 24, 1962.

Dr. Matala' was a fellow of the Iowa Academy of Science. She was the first chairman of the Science Teachers Committee and served on the Board of Directors of the Academy from 1957 until her death.

She will be remembered as a teacher, scientist, scholar, and friend. The future development of many a program in science education in out country will be dedicated to her memory in that it will be based upon one of her many imaginative ideas.

-Memorial of Dorothy Miller Matala published in the Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science, 70:43-44. All rights reserved.