Dennis Powers, 65; Marine Biologist

Dennis A. Powers, a former director of Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, has died. He was 65.

Powers, who headed the Pacific Grove-based facility from 1988 to 2000 and also was the Harold A. Miller Professor of Biological Sciences, died Dec. 8 in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., after a long illness.

“Dennis Powers was a creative force who was instrumental in catalyzing the development of the fields of integrative biology and adaptational biochemistry,” Stanford biological sciences professor George N. Somero, director of Hopkins Marine Station since 2000, said in a statement released by Hopkins.

Powers, who was born in Dearborn, Mich., served in the Marine Corps before earning his bachelor’s degree from Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., in 1963. He completed his doctorate at the University of Kansas in 1970. He conducted postdoctoral research at State University of New York-Stony Brook and at the Marine Biology Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., from 1970 to 1972.

Before joining the Hopkins Marine Station, Powers was a member of the Johns Hopkins University faculty from 1972 to 1988, where he served as chairman of the biology department, director of the McCollum-Pratt Institute for Biochemistry and acting director of the Chesapeake Bay Institute.

“During his tenure as director, Hopkins became one of the world’s leading centers for the study of molecular marine biology,” Somero said.

While at the Pacific Grove marine facility, Hopkins worked with colleagues at the neighboring Monterey Bay Aquarium and helped launch the Tuna Research and Conservation Center -- the only facility in North America where tuna can be studied in captivity.

Powers also served on the editorial boards of two journals -- Physiological and Biochemical Zoology and Biological Oceanography -- and was founding editor of the journal Marine Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.

Powers is survived by three daughters, Kathi Santos of New Smyrna Beach; Julie Powers of St. Cloud, Fla.; and Wendy McNall of Oregon, Wis.; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned for early next year.