professor of anthropology and geology, b. Delavan. He graduated from Beloit College (1881), taught high school for several years, and received advanced degrees from Harvard Univ. (A.M., 1891; Ph.D., 1893). He was professor of geology at Beloit College (1892-1923), and professor of anthropology from 1923 until his retirement in 1931. He was curator of the Logan Museum (1893-1931), dean of men (1900-1919), and acting president of Beloit College (1902-1903, 1905-1908). Collie taught courses in archeology, ethnology, and the evolution of man, and several of his students became world authorities in these fields. A proponent of the theory that man originated in Africa, he conducted several anthropological expeditions in Europe and Africa seeking to support his claims. Beloit Daily News, Dec. 29, 1954; Who's Who in Amer., 17 (1932); R. B. Way, Rock River Valley (3 vols., Chicago, 1926); E. D. Eaton, Hist. Sketches Beloit Coll. (New York, 1928).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Foote and Collie Family Photographs for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]