Kenneth W. Andersen

Kenneth W. Andersen was an American biologist, educator, and writer whose published work includes Mammals of Northwestern South Dakota, a scientific study coauthored with J. Knox Jones. The book grew out of field research on the mammal life of Harding County, South Dakota, and helped document a region that had received relatively little detailed attention.

He studied biology at Fort Hays State College and later earned a PhD at the University of New Mexico, where his dissertation focused on comparative renal efficiency in Peromyscus species. Over the course of his career, he taught biology at several colleges and spent many years at Gannon University, where he served as department chair and later as dean.

By all accounts, teaching and science stayed at the center of his life. Even after retiring from Gannon in 2001, he continued working in science education through Pennsylvania's Science in Motion program, helping bring hands-on science to students.