Owen, Richard, 1810-1890

Richard Owen (January 6, 1810 – March 25, 1890) was a Scottish-born geologist, natural scientist, educator, and American military officer who arrived in the United States in 1828 and settled at New Harmony, Indiana. Owen, who was trained as a natural scientist and physician, served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. After the Civil War, Owen taught at Indiana University for fifteen years (1864–79) and chaired its natural science department. While retaining his faculty position at IU, Owen also served as Purdue University's first president (1872–74). During the interwar years, Owen taught natural science at the Western Military Institute in Kentucky and after its merger with the University of Nashville in Tennessee. In addition, Owen assisted his brother, David Dale Owen, with early geological studies of the Northwest Territory. In 1860 Richard Owen succeeded his brother to become Indiana's second state geologist. His research interests included geology, meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, and seismology. Owen authored scientific works that included geological surveys of several U.S. states. As a colonel in the Union army's 60th Indiana Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, Owen was appointed commander of Camp Morton, a prisoner-of-war camp for 4,000 Confederate soldiers at Indianapolis, Indiana. Owen served from February to May 1862 and became well known and respected for his humanitarian treatment of its prisoners. He returned to active duty in June 1862 and was captured and released by the Confederate army before he resigned from the military in December 1863. A bronze bust was dedicated at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis in 1913 to recognize his leadership at Camp Morton during the war. Buildings on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington and the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette are named in his honor.