Collections
Acquisitions
The acquisition of zoological specimens by the University of Michigan began during the first half of the 19th century, and by mid-century the collections had been organized into a Museum as a distinct University department. By the end of the 19th century the natural history collections had grown so large as to require the appointment of a director and a curator. In 1913 the Board of Regents of the University changed the name of the Institution from Museum of Natural History to the Museum of Zoology. Since that time, with minor adjustments, the Museum has had six semi-autonomous divisions representing various animal groups.
The Museum of Zoology is housed in the Alexander G. Ruthven Museums Building, along with the Museum of Anthropology, the Museum of Paleontology and the Exhibits Museum. The Museum of Zoology is the largest of the four museums and occupies over half of the Museums building. The Director of the Museum of Zoology is responsible to the Dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. The Museum of Zoology has six divisions, each dealing with specific animal groups: mollusks, insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles,birds, and mammals. All of the Curators have joint appointments in the Department of Biology, and thus are required to carry a full teaching load during one semester of the academic year.
The Mollusk Division
The staff of the Mollusk Division consists of two 1/2-time curators,a 1/2-time secretary, two full time curatorial assistants and a full-time collection manager. Additionally, there are varying numbers of graduate students, post-doctoral students, visiting scholars and special non-degree students. The latter groups are, for the most part, funded independently of the University. Depending on availability of funds, the Mollusk Division from also hires students as part-time, non-permanent assistants, including students in work-study program