William Healey Dall

William Healey Dall
Portrait black and white photograph showing Dall's left profile. Dall's balding head, beard and glasses are shown and is wearing a serious expression on his face. He is wearing a dark coat and suit with a white shirt and a dark tie.
Born
William Healey Cranch Dall

(1845-08-21)August 21, 1845
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
DiedMarch 27, 1927(1927-03-27) (aged 81)
Washington, D.C., United States of America
EducationEnglish High School of Boston, Harvard College (did not graduate)
Known forExploration of Alaska, malacology, founding the National Geographic Society
SpouseAnnette Whitney (married 1880)
ChildrenCharles Whitney Dall, Marcus Healey Dall, Marian Dall
Parent(s)Charles Henry Appleton Dall, Caroline Healey Dall
AwardsHonorary Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania,[1] Honorary A.M. from Wesleyan University, Honorary L.L.D. from George Washington University, Gold Medal from Wagner Free Institute of Science, member of National Academy of Sciences, Foreign fellow of the Geological Society of London
Scientific career
FieldsMalacologist, Naturalist, Anthropologist, Biologist, Explorer, Cartographer, Paleontologist
InstitutionsWestern Union, Smithsonian Institution, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, United States Geological Survey
Author abbrev. (zoology)Dall

William Healey Dall (August 21, 1845 – March 27, 1927) was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska. He described many mollusks of the Pacific Northwest of North America, and was for many years America's preeminent authority on living and fossil mollusks.

Dall also made substantial contributions to ornithology, zoology, physical and cultural anthropology, oceanography, and paleontology. In addition he carried out meteorological observations in Alaska for the Smithsonian Institution.