Bernard Master

Bernard F. Master (b. May 17, 1941) is a retired family physician from Columbus, Ohio. He received his medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and was in practice for more than 30 years. He is an internationally recognized birder and conservationist after whom the Chocó vireo (Vireo masteri) was named. Master is among the few Americans to have seen a representative of all extant bird families in the world (248) and has observed more than 8,325 birds in the wild.[1][2] He is the author of No Finish Line: Discovering the World's Secrets One Bird at a Time.

Bernard Master
Born(1941-05-17)17 May 1941

Biography

Master's passion for birding started when he was four years old, at the encouragement of his father Gilbert with whom he'd accompany on bird walks. His family's vacation home in North Wildwood, New Jersey was near Cape May Bird Observatory, a birding mecca and in the path of the largest fall migration in the eastern North America.[2]: ch 1  Master graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on June 11, 1966 and began his medical career.

In 1968, Master was drafted into the Vietnam War where he served one year as a battalion surgeon in an Army combat unit and one year as post-surgeon for the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence School.[2]: ch 2  Following discharge, Master spent the next 35 years as a primary care physician in the inner city of Columbus, Ohio.

During his medical years, Master often watched birds at Green Lawn Cemetery, a popular birding spot in Columbus, Ohio,[2]: ch 6  He became a founding board member of the Ohio Ornithological Society in 2004.[3]

In 1994, Bernard Master bid for and won the right to assign the scientific name for a new species of vireo (Passeriformes: Vireonidae) from the Western Andes of Colombia. The Chocó vireo was first observed on August 25, 1991, by Paul Salaman in western Nariño located in southwest Colombia.[4] His donation was used to create the Pangan ProAves Reserve in Colombia.[7][8]https://ebird.org/species/chovir1. He named the species Vireo masteri.[4][5]

Master is known for supporting several philanthropic causes. In 1995, he endowed several scholarships for minority medical students at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at Ohio University, Ohio State University, and at Temple University. Master has sponsored the Bernard Master Tennis Classic since 1978 and is the co-founder and sole sponsor of the Bernard Master Junior Tennis Tournament, Columbus, Ohio from 2004 to the present. Master has served on the board of trustees for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for 16 years and on May 19, 2021, it unveiled its new Dr. Bernard Master Aviary.

Master's contributions to world bird conservation were honored by the late HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (aka Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld), who helped found the World Wide Fund for Nature.[2]: ch 15  [6]

References
  1. Dilley, M. "Wing man". Columbus Dispatch. Gatehouse Media. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  2. Master, Bernard F (2015). No Finish Line: Discovering the World's Secrets One Bird at a Time. Little White Dog Press. ISBN 978-0989158978.
  3. "Officers and Directors of the OOS - Founding Board Members". Ohio Ornithological Society. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  4. Conservation International (2007) Tumbers-Chocó-Magdalena. Accessed 5 January 2010
  5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (Aug 28, 2014). The Eponym Dictionary of Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1472905741.
  6. WWF mourns loss of Founder-President HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
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