Reidinger, Russell F., 2016

Russell Frederick Reidinger was born on June 19, 1945 in Reading, Pennsylvania. He studied biology and chemistry at Albright College and earned a PhD from the University of Arizona. While earning his PhD, he worked at the Denver Wildlife Research Center as a Physical Science Technician. In 1974, he accepted a position with the DWRC’s International Program in the Philippines, where he and his wife Carol would live for the next 6 years. Russell was then transferred to the Monell Chemical Senses Center, where he worked in rodent repellent research. He then became a Staff Specialist with the Animal Damage Control Program in Washington, D.C. During this time, he mainly worked on registering chemicals with the EPA. When ADC was moved from the Department of the Interior to the USDA in 1986, Russell became Assistant Director, and shortly thereafter, Director of the DWRC. He served as Director of the Center until 1993, when he took on the role of directing the USDA Center of Excellence at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri. He retired from the USDA in 2003.