Professor Emeritus Robert Wilce has been awarded an Honorary degree by the University of Copenhagen for his decades-long work in the field of phycolOgy. Starting in the 1950's, Bob made collections in the Arctic and subarctic regions of Canada. The latter led to his paper entitled "The Marine Algae of the Labrador Peninsula and Newfoundland" which remains a central work on the marine algae of this area. In 1990, Bob formulated his biogeographic hypothesis on the role of the Polar Sea as a bridge between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This hypothesis has served as a stimulus for the extensive studies currently going on at the University of Copenhagen, some of which are already adding support to Bob's ideas.  
Bob Wilce was one of the impelling forces behind the establishment of the Northeast Algal Society, of which he was president from 1982-1985. Although now an Emeritus Professor, his study and exploration have not ceased. In 1994, at nearly 70 years of age, Bob returned to northern Baffin Island to dive and collect algae.  Many of our students will remember Bob as an untiring collector, not only in the Arctic, but along the Massachusetts coast as well. Throughout the years, Bob's lab was populated by graduate and undergraduate students, many of whom made trips to the Arctic with him, and collected along our coast at all seasons of the year. When not collecting, Bob is continuing with his work on the phylogenetic biogeography of the marine benthic flora of the North Atlantic.