Robert S. Hoffmann

From 1955 to 1968, Hoffmann was a professor at the University of Montana. Then, from 1968 to 1985, he was curator of mammals at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum^[2] and professor at the University proper. During his tenure there, he was President of the American Society of Mammalogists from 1978 to 1980,^[3] an organization he joined in 1955. Following his career at the University of Kansas, he took the position of Director at the National Museum of Natural History.^[2][1] He kept this role until 1988, when he went on to serve various roles at the museum within the Smithsonian Institution: Assistant Secretary for Research from 1988 to 1991, Assistant Secretary for the Sciences from 1992 to 1994, and Assistant Provost for the Sciences through 1995.^[4] While he was Assistant Provost, he also served as Acting Director of the National Air and Space Museum, for which he received the Secretary's Gold Medal for Exceptional Service in 1996.^[1]

Hoffmann started translating Russian while working on his dissertation, and briefly studied at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1963, where he started collaborations that would eventually lead to the establishment of the International Mammal Congresses.^[1]

Hoffmann made contributions to encyclopedic works on mammalogy in the early 21st century, including the Guide to the Mammals of China^[5] and Mammal Species of the World.^[6] In 2006, for his contributions to the field of mammalogy, he was awarded the C. Hart Merriam Award.^[7]

In 1996, a subspecies of the alpine pika was named after him, Hoffmann's pika (Ochotona alpina hoffmanni). It was later described as a distinct species.^[8]

Hoffmann married his wife Sally Ann Monson in 1958 and had 4 children.^[1] He died of complications from dementia at 81.^[7]