Dr. Paul Heltne, President Emeritus,
Chicago Academy of Sciences
Dr. Paul G. Heltne died January 24, 2023 in hospice care in Chicago. For a person so deeply and joyfully invested in learning, teaching, and writing, living with dementia seemed especially cruel.
Paul Heltne’s curiosity about the world and love of learning began on his family’s farm in northern Iowa and at Silver Lake #4, the one-room school he attended. After high school, Dr. Heltne attended Luther College earning degrees in Classical Languages and Chemistry in 1962, and went on to earn advanced degrees from the University of Chicago, including a PhD in Evolutionary Biology in 1970. He taught human and comparative anatomy as Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1970 to 1982. From 1982 until 1999 he served as President of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.
Among his accomplishments at CAS, Dr. Heltne formally established the Education Department, helped launch the Peregrine Release Project and The International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy. He convened several major conferences including Science Learning in the Informal Setting (1987) and Understanding Chimpanzees (1986), and Chimpanzee Cultures (1991). Jane Goodall worked with Paul to bring together chimpanzee field researchers for the first time at the 1986 event. Jane calls that first chimpanzee conference her “Damascus moment.” She arrived a researcher and left an activist.
Science literacy comes in many forms. A temporary exhibition of science cartoons inspired CAS staff to eschew the typical wine and cheese opening reception, for an original science-based sketch comedy performance. It was a hit. With Paul’s blessing and his hearty laugh, CAS staff and friends as ChAoS, created and performed science comedy shows for three seasons at the museum.
In 1995, having outgrown the Matthew Laflin building, Heltne and team embarked on creating a new space for science exploration in Lincoln Park. In 1999, The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, designed by Ralph Johnson of Perkins and Will, opened to the public.
Paul’s own research took him to Peru, Panama, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and South Africa. He also led trips for CAS to the US southwest, the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, and Antarctica.
Paul is survived by his wife of 33 years, Jean Linsner, his sisters Carolyn and Ruth, his daughter Lisa (Roberto) and family, his son Christian (Karen) and family, and nieces, nephews, and cousins.
