Robert Ricklefs: key obituary facts
Is Robert Ricklefs dead? Yes. Robert Ricklefs died on June 7, 2026, at age 83.
Cause of death: Robert Ricklefs's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Robert Ricklefs known for?
He was known as American ornithologist.
More about Robert Ricklefs
Born: 6 June 1943.
Place of birth: San Francisco.
Gender: male.
Occupation: ornithologist, zoologist, university teacher, ecologist, biologist.
Nationality: United States.
Education: Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania.
Employer: University of Missouri–St. Louis, University of Pennsylvania, University of Missouri.
Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship, ASN Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Conceptual Unification of the Biological Sciences, Brewster Medal, Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology, Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, Margaret Morse Nice Medal, Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, Alfred Russel Wallace Award.
Spouse: Susanne S. Renner.
Also known as: Robert E. Ricklefs.
Robert Ricklefs, an American ornithologist and ecologist, died on June 7, 2026, at age 83.
Born Robert Eric Ricklefs on June 6, 1943, in San Francisco, he was educated at Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1963 and a doctorate in 1967. He later taught at the University of Missouri–St.
Louis, where he served as Curators’ Professor of Biology until August 2019, and also held appointments at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Missouri. Ricklefs’ work ranged across ornithology, ecology, and evolutionary biology, with contributions to island biogeography, bird life-history theory, tropical ecology, and avian disease research. His honors included a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Brewster Medal, the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology, and the Loye and Alden Miller Research Award.