A symposium recognizing the 80th birthday of Dr. Richard L. Hoffman, VMNH curator of recent invertebrates, was held on September 21 and 22 at VMNH.  The symposium was titled A Lifetime of Contributions to Myriapodology and the Natural History of Virginia: A Symposium in Honor of Richard L. Hoffman’s 80th Birthday. 

Dr. Hoffman, a native of Virginia, has devoted most of his life to the study and documentation of the natural history of Virginia and the southern Appalachians, while also earning an international reputation as a leading scholar of the world’s milliped fauna. The first of his many hundred papers and books, published in 1944 while he was still a teenager, documented his discovery of a lizard species new to the state’s fauna. 

Dr. Hoffman has served as curator of recent invertebrates at the Virginia Museum of Natural History since it became a state agency in 1988, amassing a substantial collection of over 1.5 million preserved specimens in less than two decades. He was a cofounder of the Virginia Natural History Society, serving for nearly a decade as one of the original coeditors of the journal Banisteria and is currently an honorary councilor and the only life member of the society. 
 
A number of Richard’s colleagues, coworkers, former students, and friends gave brief presentations on millipeds or various aspects of natural history (e.g., insects, millipeds, spiders, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians and reptiles, biogeography, taxonomy, conservation, education, etc.) in Virginia, with particular emphasis on discussing the breadth, depth, and significance of Richard’s contributions.  They also discussed current or past collaborative projects with Richard, explaining how his collections, publications or knowledge have contributed to their own research, or gave a presentation of their own choosing of some relevance to Richard’s career.
 
At the end of the formal program, there was an opportunity for other attendees to give brief testimonials on the impact that Richard has made on their careers, education, etc. or relate interesting or memorable experiences they have shared with him.