Vale Emeritus Professor David Woodruff (TC 1962)

Emeritus Professor David Woodruff was a world-renowned conservation geneticist and biogeographer who taught evolutionary biology at the University of California, San Diego for 35 years. 

He was the founding chair of the Section of Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution in UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences and had recently begun a senior research scientist position at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.  Among his scientific colleagues, David Woodruff was best known for his development of pioneering techniques of non-invasive genotyping of wild animals based on DNA from shed hair, feathers and faeces. One of his most important papers on the evolutionary development of apes was featured on the front page of the prestigious journal Science journal. He obtained his PhD in biology from the University of Melbourne and was a resident of Trinity College from 1962 to 1968.

A celebration of David’s life was held on 15 January 2015, in Durham, North Carolina. A celebration of his life was also held simultaneously in Melbourne by some of his contemporaries from Trinity College, including Richard Oppenheim and Andrew Prentice.

David is survived by his wife of 43 years, Amy, daughter Kathryn Tipple and son-in-law Brett Tipple of Salt Lake City, UT and daughter Suzanne Woodruff of San Diego. His brother Roger Woodruff, MD of Melbourne, also survives him.