Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Henry Phelps Jr. (December 25, 1902 – August 13, 1988) was a Venezuelan ornithologist and businessman.
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2021) |
William H. Phelps Jr. | |
|---|---|
Phelps during the first expedition to the Cerro La Neblina, 1954 | |
| Born | 25 December 1902 San Antonio de Maturín, Monagas, Venezuela |
| Died | 13 August 1988 (aged 85) Caracas, Venezuela |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Known for | 137 new taxa |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ornithology |
He was born in San Antonio de Maturín, a town located in Monagas, Venezuela. Along with his father, William Henry Phelps, he founded the first commercial radio station in Venezuela, 1 Broadcasting Caracas.
After finishing his studies at Lawrenceville School and getting a BSc in 1926 from Princeton University, he published over 78 books on the birds of Venezuela with his wife Katherine Deery Phelps, in which they described their discovery of more than 200 new species. Together they organized about 100 expeditions that helped collect over 1,000 species of birds. A direct result of his research was the creation of the Venezuelan Museum of Ornithology with one of the most important libraries and collections in South America. In recognition of his research the University of Exeter created a fellowship in his honor to fund Venezuelan graduate students interested in zoology. In 1953 he founded one of the most important Venezuelan television stations, Radio Caracas Televisión, and served as its president for 34 years. He died in the city of Caracas.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
