By Amanda Murphy
If you thought spending five years at Northeastern University was a long time, just imagine 45 years as Doctor Nathan Riser has done. He is currently a professor emeritus of Marine Biology at Northeastern and has been here since 1957.
He has seen five University Presidents and over four generations of students. ‘Doc,’ as he is often called, began as biology chair and continued on to produce the well known Marine Biology Department Northeastern has today.
Riser got his start in Marine Biology in the late 1930’s. His own education includes an Associate Bachelors Degree in Zoology from the University of Illinois (1941), Associate Masters Degree in Biology from Stanford University California (1947), and Ph. D. in Biology from Stanford University California (1949).
While finishing his Ph. D., Riser began teaching after WWII when he was asked to replace his own professor at Stanford who had suffered a heart attack and was unable to teach any longer. From there, Riser went on to an extensive career in biology including a job as a research associate at Harvard University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute as well as various positions as a professor at University of Pennsylvania, Fisk University, and University of New Hampshire.
“Northeastern should feel lucky to have Doc,” says Riser’s fellow professor of Marine Biology Geoff Trussell. NU students can thank Riser for the Northeastern Marine Science lab located in Nahant, Mass. He founded the lab out of a former WWII barrack in 1966. Riser also developed a high quality running seawater system that helps students study different aspects of Marine Science.
Another large accomplishment of Riser’s was the graduate biology program. He developed the program to help students further their studies in biology at Northeastern. Other achievements of Doc’s include over 40 publications in many different areas from a commentary in the American Journal of Medical Science on studies of Penicillin sensitivity of strains of Typhoid Bacilli to the Encyclopedia Britannica article about tapeworms.
Riser has studied many variations of biology, but as an invertebrate biologist he has a special liking for tiny creatures. He enjoys studying micro-organisms and sources of pollution. Many people call on Riser for his expertise in his many fields of research.
Although Riser officially retired in 1985, he is still offering classes and his know-how about Marine Biology.
“Many students look to Doc as almost a father figure,” says Trussell. “They see him as an inspiring, productive scientist with broad knowledge who is always interested in learning something new.”
He has had many students go on to achieve amazing endeavors. He has had 17 different species named after him. Riser feels the same for his students as they feel towards him. He believes curious students can accomplish anything. Riser says the students are what keep him going through all these years. In his own words, “seeing a student taking the ball and running with it is the most rewarding thing of my career.”
