John Nathan Cobb the preeminent fishery scientist of the Pacific Northwest for nearly 40 years. Thompson had offices in the College of Fisheries where, since 1925, he was Director of the International Fisheries Commission (now International Pacific Halibut Commission) charged with the management of, and research on, the Pacific halibut, "Hippoglossus stenolepis", fishery. A Ph.D. from Stanford University, Thompson was appointed Research Professor and Director of the new department on a part-time basis, as he remained Director of the International Fisheries Commission. He remained Director of the School until 1947 when he resigned to establish and head the UW's new Fisheries Research Institute.
Fish River (Alaska) of ore taken to the city for smelting and refining for silver. Walter Curran Mendenhall found obscure fossils on Fish River at White Mountain. Its Inuit name was reported in 1838 as Ikalikhvik meaning "fish (or fish place)" by Aleksandr Filippovich Kashevarov. Various spellings were reported by Western Union Telegraph Expedition in 1865–67. Dall appears to be the first to have applied the name "Fish River" in 1870 when he wrote: "Golofnina Bay is connected with a large lagoon which opens in Grantley Harbor by the extremely winding channel of the Fish River, which has one principal tributary, the Kavi-ava-zak."