Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University

The Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies along with the Bay Conference Center, established in 1978, is San Francisco State University’s marine field station located 20 miles north of San Francisco on the Tiburon Peninsula. The University purchased the property (worth $2 million in 1973) for a token $1 bill. Dr. Erwin Seibel served as the Center’s first director. The location for the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies has a long history. Prior to 1830, the Miwok “Coon Tribe” occupied this land, and after 1769 the population greatly diminished under Spanish mission system. Between 1834 and 1884, it was documented as a Spanish land grant, and between 1877 and 1904 the Lynde and Hough Company established cod dying plant on the property. The federal government purchased property and used it as a Navy coaling station from 1904 to 1940. Then the State of California acquired land for California Nautical School (California Maritime Academy) from 1931 to 1940. The U.S. Navy re-acquired land to be utilized submarine net depot from 1940 to 1958. The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife acquired the land in 1961 and established Sport Fish Research Laboratory in 1963. The Marine Minerals Technology Center and Bureau of Mines joined forces to operate the Sport Fishery Laboratory from 1970 to 1975.  The property was transferred to the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Laboratory’s scope broadened to include commercial fishery research. From 1975 to 1976, a portion of the property (approximately 35 acres) was turned over to the General Services Administration. Upon his retirement in 1983, Romberg devoted much of his time to developing the facility. The Center is the only academic research facility located in one of the largest estuaries on the West Coast of the United States. Romberg was a specialist in botany and genetics, and taught biology in the Midwest before joining the California State University System as an administrator in 1961. Romberg became the thirteenth president of San Francisco State University in 1973 and masterminded the construction of a two-building Science Complex, established a long-range planning commission that produced a ten-year plan for the University. Although he was remembered as a scholar, a World War II fighter pilot, Romberg was most proud of his role in acquiring the federal site in Tiburon for San Francisco State University. On May 5, 1985, the Paul F. Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies was dedicated shortly after his death.  President Ronald Reagan sent Rose Romberg a letter stating, “San Francisco, the Golden State, and America as a whole were greatly enriched by Romberg and his life’s work.” A scholarship was established in his name, and his widow Rose Romberg carried on his vision until her death in 2000. Image used in the Ross Valley Reporter (April 25-May1, 1984) with Photograph credited to Privette.

Credits: Some descriptions were developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.