Tomanek's Research

Dr. Gerald W. Tomanek served as the 7th president of Fort Hays State University from 1975-1987.

A HISTORICAL VIEW:

TOMANEK’S RESEARCH

ABROAD IN ARGENTINA

STORY BY SARAH N KEISS

The legacy of Fort Hays State students and staff is not limited to Kansas, the Midwest, or even the United States. Many individuals associated with Fort Hays have conducted research and taught outside of the country. As early as the 1920s, George F. Sternberg led paleontological expeditions in Canada and Argentina. In the late 1950s, Dr. Fred Albertson studied grasslands in India, and Dr. Katherine Nutt lectured in India as a Fulbright Scholar. Since then, many other faculty have spent time abroad. This is the story of the travels of Dr. Gerald W. Tomanek, who went from growing up in a small western Kansas town to becoming an internationally known grasslands scholar.

A man with strong Western Kansas roots, Dr. Tomanek was born and raised in Collyer, about forty-five minutes west of Hays. Both of his parents attended school at Fort Hays State. His father, John, took the first Short Course for Farmers in 1912 which focused on blacksmithing, steam engines, and gas engines. His mother, Hazel, started attending school at the university to get her teaching certificate in 1918. She continued taking summer and Saturday classes while teaching until she graduated in 1961 at the age of 64. Following in his parents’ footsteps, young Tomanek also attended Fort Hays and received his bachelor’s and master’s in botany before earning his doctorate at the University of Nebraska. Tomanek then served a four-year tour of duty from March 1942 to January 1946. He rose to the rank of marine captain in the Pacific Theatre of World War

II. After returning home, he married Ruth Ardis Morell, and they had three children.

Fort Hays Kansas State College hired Tomanek in 1947 to teach biology. While he worked for the college, he held many positions, including chairman of Biological Sciences and chairman of the Division of Natural Science and Mathematics. He became the vice president for Academic Affairs in 1972 and then president in 1975, serving in that role until his retirement in 1987. By the time he became president, he had more than forty publications on grasslands as an internationally known grasslands scholar. Tomanek’s research brought him to Argentina twice to help with the reintroduction of grasslands.

Before his first trip, Tomanek conducted thorough research on the grasslands of the region and how to get around Argentina, noting the country’s transportation system, lodging options, and learning important Spanish terms. The first six-week trip to Argentina began in the country’s capital, Buenos Aires, on January 14, 1961. Tomanek mainly worked in the province called La Pampa and the surrounding areas with several Argentinian researchers, including Guillermo Covas, Dr. Osvaldo Boelcke, and Roberto Souto.

The Pampas grasslands stretch across fertile plains and estancias (cattle ranches). This area of Argentina and Kansas have similar climates and face the same agricultural challenges. Tomanek worked with local ranchers and residents to implement best practices for managing and preserving grasslands for the cattle industry. To effectively work with the locals, he had to use a translator.

A second trip began on November 23, 1961, and lasted until December 22, 1961. Tomanek’s experiences abroad allowed him to not only learn about grasslands but to interact with the locals. Tomanek took avid research notes on grasslands and biology while also taking notes on his experiences and interactions with Argentinians. Research notes detail the variety of South American foods the researchers ate, including arroz con leche (rice pudding), asado (grilled meats), yerba mate (caffeinated herbal drink), and lechon (suckling pig).

Research notes explain how the Western Kansan felt in the big city of Buenos Aires, which was the largest city in Argentina with just under 7 million people at the time. Tomanek described what he saw. He noted a strong European influence on the city’s architecture, food, and customs. He attributed the difference in daily routines to an Italian influence on the city, with most peoples’ days starting in the late morning or early afternoon and dinner being eaten at nine at night.

Dr. Tomanek’s notes also show that he felt a bit intimidated by the bustling city. His notes state that “the traffic is out of this world – many narrow streets, and cars, buses, street cars, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, horse-drawn carts, and pedestrians.” When getting around the city, “you come to a blind intersection, honk your horn, and plunge on thru hoping for the best.” There were many close calls in Buenos Aires, and because of this, he was too scared to drive in the busy city. Although he was still nervous, he drove in the smaller town of Santa Rosa “with bated breath.” Even the foot traffic was different than what he was used to, stating that “the people are like cars – they come straight at you without any thought of getting out of their way.”

Working on this project with his fellow researchers, Tomanek established friendships that continued after he returned home. He and his new friends continued to communicate for years, inviting each other to conferences, sharing publications, and sending gifts. One 1971 letter that Tomanek sent to his fellow researcher, Guillermo

Covas, states, “every time I see something on weeping lovegrass I think of you … I hope everything is going well for you and your family. Please give my warm regards to all of my friends.” Tomanek and the Argentinian researchers also exchanged birthday and holiday cards throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Neither Tomanek nor his fellow researchers forgot the relationships they made with each other.

Since Kansas and Argentina faced similar agricultural challenges, continued communication after the trip allowed them to exchange ideas, work through problems, and learn from one another. Following the trip, Argentinian researchers came to the Fort Hays experiment station to learn and conduct research of their own.

In honor of Dr. Tomanek and his achievements in the sciences and the university community, the physical science building built in 1995 was named after him.

RIGHT: A map with notations by Tomanek showing the areas of light, moderate, severe, and extreme wind and water erosion damage across Argentina. Most of the damaged area is in La Pampa region, where Tomanek focused his research and educational efforts to reintroduce grasslands.