08/05/2025

Robert I. Bolla, Ph.D., former chair of the Department of Biology at Saint Louis University, died Sunday, July 27, 2025. He was 81.

Bolla worked at SLU from 1989 to 2001.  

Bolla was born on Aug. 18, 1943, in Dansville, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology from the University at Buffalo in 1965. He then attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he earned his master’s degree in zoology in 1967.

He stayed at Amherst and earned his doctorate degree in zoology in 1971. Dedicating his career to the study of roundworms, Bolla titled his Ph.D. thesis “Gene level control of development and differentiation in the cestode Hymenolepsis diminuta.”

With his doctorate, Bolla moved to the University of Notre Dame to work as a research fellow. He spent three years researching the development and aging of parasitic nematodes. Bolla continued his research in 1973 when he joined the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology to research the regulation of macromolecular synthesis and function during aging. 

In 1976, he began his academic teaching career and moved to St. Louis. Bolla was hired by the University of Missouri-St. Louis to serve as assistant professor in biology. While at UMSL, he was promoted to associate professor of biology and also worked as a consultant to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Japan.

While in St. Louis, Bolla spent time at Washington University in St. Louis as a visiting assistant professor. 

Bolla started at SLU in the summer of 1989 when he was named a professor of biology. He was simultaneously named the chairman of the department. 

At SLU, Bolla continued his research into plant parasitic nematodes, which are a major cause of lost fiber, grain and fruit crops.  

Bolla cautioned that most strategies to manage parasitic nematodes are ineffective, noting that chemical pesticides used to kill nematodes have been found in the water table in many areas and are being removed from use.

Bolla and his team worked with systems of agricultural importance, including soybean cyst nematode, root knot nematode, root lesion nematode and pinewood nematode. His work with the soybean cyst nematode, for example, was designed to fight against the parasitic worm in the hope of increasing soybean crop yields. The soybean work was part of a national research project. 

During his academic career, he published numerous scholarly articles. He was a member of a number of professional societies, including the New York Academy of Science, the Society of Nematologists, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

Bolla left SLU in 2001 to become the dean of Arts and Sciences at Youngstown State University. He also served as the associate provost and interim provost at Bradley University. 

In retirement, he created Tin Duck Consulting and Tin Duck Studio. The consulting firm worked on a technology start-up, bioscience, graduate education and program development. This venture also allowed Bolla to leverage his interest in photography. 

Services for Bolla will be Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, at Holy Infant Catholic Church in Ballwin, MO. A memorial visitation will begin at 9 a.m. with a memorial Mass at 10 a.m. A celebration of life will follow Mass.