Donald Borror (1907-1988), emeritus professor of entomology at Ohio State, was a world-renowned expert on Odonata (an order of carnivorous insects including dragonflies and damselflies) and bioacoustics, particularly of songbirds.
He may be best known as the senior author of the classic textbook, Introduction to the Study of Insects, first published in 1954. He was deeply involved in the textbook’s six revisions up to the time of his death. It is now in its seventh edition and has been translated into many languages. He was also senior author of A Field Guide to the Insects of America North of Mexico.
Borror is considered a pioneer in the field of bioacoustics. During his career, starting in 1948 he made over 14,000 recordings of animal sounds. Today the Borror Lab of Bioacoustics archive holds 40,000 animal sound recording making it one of the oldest and most extensive collections in the world. Listen to these Sunday afternoon programs (30 min each) broadcasted in the spring of 1959.
He was a Fellow of both the American Ornithologists’ Union and the Entomological Society of America.