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In 1873, there was one Natural History course offered at the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (VAMC). "General principles of classification . . . and the history of the most important plants and domestic animals" was its content. "Animal and vegetable physiology" was added later. By 1890, there were four courses: Botany, Zoology, Human Physiology, and Veterinary Science.

In 1891, what could be called a Biology Department was established with the appointment of Ellison Adger Smyth, Jr. (1863-1941) as Professor of Biology. Smyth was brought to VAMC in 1891 by John M. McBryde who became president of the college that year. The enrollment was 135.

The courses that Smyth set up and the texts that he used suggest that the college had finally gotten a "modern" Biology program. Smyth offered eight courses: Human Physiology, Advanced Physiology and Histology, Zoology (Systematic and Structural), Economic Zoology, Structural Botany, Vegetable Physiology and Biology. Simultaneously, W. B. Alwood was appointed Professor of Horticulture, Entomology and Mycology and he offered several courses in those subjects. By 1905, Smyth had taken over the Entomology courses and three new departments had been added: Bacteriology and Microscopy, Mycology, and Horticulture. The first Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees were awarded by the college in 1892.

Originally, Smyth held his classes in Science Hall, located near the current Power Plant. In 1903, the Biology department consisted of a lecture room, a general laboratory "supplied with running water, gas, desks, dissecting tables, and . . . instruments" (from Smyth's journals). There was also an Herbarium, a museum, and another laboratory for more advanced workers. Smyth also allowed students to study his own large collections of bird skins and insects.

By 1921, Smyth's department was offering fifteen courses, but until his retirement in 1925, there was no undergraduate degree in Biology; the courses were part of the curricula in agriculture and applied sciences. Smyth's retirement in 1925 signaled a major change in the organization of the department. Most of the subjects were regrouped into two departments: Botany and Plant Pathology under Fred D. Fromme and Zoology and Animal Pathology under Irl Donaker Wilson. An undergraduate degree in Biology was established in that year. There were 1200 students on campus.

In 1927, the curriculum for the B. S. in Biology included Invertebrate and Vertebrate Zoology, General Botany, Human Biology, Plant Pathology, Genetics, Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Bacteriology, Advanced Botany, Plant Physiology, Plant Taxonomy and Systematic Entomology as well as two full years each of French and German and the usual courses in English, Math, and other Sciences. The schedule was tight and free electives did not appear until 1931.

Also in 1927, the two departments were included in a new unit, The College, as distinct from the School of Agriculture. In 1935, Wilson pulled the two departments together, added a program in wildlife conservation (later including forestry) and formed a Biology department of vast proportions. His faculty now numbered eleven. By 1940, there were 75 courses and a Ph. D. program was added. The roots of Biochemistry were put down in 1942 with a biological chemistry option and the catalog course offerings expanded to 85 in 1945. In that year, the department's first Ph. D. was awarded, in Bacteriology.

Over the next fifteen years, there would be several major changes in the structure of the department, culminating with the retirement of Wilson in 1958 and the appointment of Fred S. Orcutt as department head in 1960. Biochemistry and Nutrition, Entomology, Forestry and Wildlife, and Veterinary Sciences all became separate departments within the School of Agriculture. Biology was left with Bacteriology, Botany, and Zoology and had a faculty of about 10 teaching 40 courses. In 1960, the enrollment of the college was 5318 and there were 13 B. S. degrees in Biology.

The faculty dropped to a low of eight in 1961-62 and then began a gradual growth during President Hahn's tenure. By 1967, there were over 9000 students and 30 Biology graduates. By 1964, there were plans underway for a new building that would house several departments, including Biology. In 1966, Orcutt resigned and in 1967, Robert A. Paterson became department head. He presided over the move to Derring Hall in 1969 and the rapid growth of the department during the expansion of the institution in the 1970s.

The Paterson years saw a growth in the faculty (rising from 17 in 1967 to 49 in 1979) and in the research activities of the department. Paterson's imprint on the department is seen in the 31 current faculty members who came during his years as department head. Paterson also oversaw the negotiations regarding the vertebrate collections and the library amassed by Harold H. Bailey and Eugene Law. The extensive collection of birds, bird eggs and mammals, and the library were given to the University in the late 1960's with the understanding that the Biology department would curate the specimens. In 1990, the collection was transferred to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University branch of the Virginia Museum of Natural History. The library was transferred to Newman Library where many items went into special collections.

Paterson stepped down in 1979. George Simmons agreed to be acting head and in 1980, Ernest R. Stout was chosen as head. The University had over 20,000 students in 1979, with 149 graduates in Biology. By 1983, the department had three Distinguished Professors: Noel Krieg as Alumni Distinguished Professor, and John Cairns and Bruce Wallace as University Distinguished Professors. Dr. Wallace was the first member of the Biology faculty to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Major teaching awards have come to several members of the department: R. E. Benoit, A. L. Buikema, R. B. Holliman, N. R. Krieg, G. M. Simmons, H. R. Steeves, D. A. Stetler, J. W. Via, and D. A. West. Dr, Krieg also received the Carski Distinguished Teaching Award of the American Society of Microbiologists (1978).

The 1980s saw the department grow in national stature and graduate education. Stout stepped down in 1988 and George Simmons once again filled the position of interim head. After a two year search, Joe R. Cowles accepted the position as Department Head. The 1990s have been challenging years. For the first time in recent history, the budget of the university was reduced and the Biology department lost faculty positions. As budget cuts were made, the enrollment in Biology increased about 50% to over 1200 majors, the largest undergraduate enrollment in the university. Even so, the department began to replace retiring faculty with new Assistant Professors and also added a molecular and cellular component to the department. The new faculty members have added to the curriculum, teaching innovation and research accomplishment in the department..

During this period, George Simmons and Art Buikema have been added to the Alumni Distinguished Professor rank and John Tyson has become a University Distinguished Professor.

Sources include D. L. Kinnear's The First Hundred Years; catalogs 1872-present; reminiscences of E. A. Smyth, Jr. by his son, and Smyth's own history of the college from 1872-1922 (V.P.I. Bulletin XV) both in Special Collections; personal reminiscences of past and present faculty.

By D. A. West, Fall 1990 and edited by Amy M. Ostroth in Fall 1999.