The Regents of the University of Michigan acknowledge with profound sadness the death of George F. Estabrook, M.S., professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and research professor in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Professor Estabrook died on November 24, 2011, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 69.

Professor Estabrook received his A.B. degree from Dartmouth College in 1964 and his M.S. degree from the University of Colorado in 1968. He joined the University of Michigan faculty as a visiting assistant professor in 1970, and was promoted to assistant professor in 1973, associate professor in 1976, and professor in 1983. He was appointed research scientist (now research professor) in 1974.

Professor Estabrook's research focused on the application of quantitative methods to testing biological hypotheses. He was a leader in the application of mathematics to the discovery of phylogenetic relationships among groups of plants and animals, and published over 120 papers on a wide-range of topics. Recently, he and his colleagues made advances in the application of DNA sequence data to the elucidation of relationships among the major groups of plants and to the role of metabolic rate on the molecular evolution of fishes. He also contributed to the history, ecology, and ethnobotany of traditional agriculture in Portugal. He was an active graduate student mentor, guiding 16 doctoral students to completion of their dissertations. Professor Estabrook taught courses in human nutrition, computational hypothesis testing, and economic botany; his human nutrition course enjoyed enrollments of as many as 240 students. He received an award for outstanding teaching in 1986.

Throughout his life, Professor Estabrook was a musician, a singer, and an athlete. He played the trumpet, the banjo, and sang with a number of groups. He played, coached, and refereed soccer, ran marathons, and until age 65, was a nationally- ranked triathlete.

As we mourn the loss of our beloved colleague, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Virginia Hutton Estabrook, his children, and other members of his family.