Offices
· First President, Michigan Academy of Sciences, 1894.
· First President, Botanists of U.S. Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1881.
· First President, Botanical Club of AAAS, 1888.
· First President, Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science, 1880.

Campus
· First Grass and Weed Garden in U.S., 1873-1910.
· Started and maintained Botanic Garden, 1877-1910. In 1880's the garden was one of only 3 or 4 in the U.S., and was described as "perhaps the best-the U.S. had ever known."
· Started and maintained Arboretum, 1870-1910.
· Started and maintained Botanical Museum, 1880-1890 (destroyed by fire).
· Laid out first campus roads and walks, planted numerous trees.

Teaching
· Taught Botany, Forestry, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture.
· One of 3 schools to provide compound microscope for students, one for each student, 1880.
· A staunch advocate of "The New Botany," which emphasized encouraging students to observe and think for themselves rather than study from textbooks. Efforts were directed towards developing the minds of the students by inducing habits of careful observation by means of original investigations.
Scholarly Contributions
· Demonstrated 21-51% increase in corn yields by crossing inbred lines, 1879. Led to first published account of a field experiment demonstrating hybrid vigor in corn, by Eugene Davenport and Perry Holden, 1881.
· Began first seed testing laboratory in the U.S., 1877.
· Started famous seed vitality experiment with buried seeds, 1879.
· By his own count, 1,286 publications during 40 years at MAC, including 3 important books:
1. Grasses of North America, Vol. I. 1887
2. Grasses of North America, Vol. II. 1896
3. Michigan Flora, 2nd edition. 1903
4. History of the Michigan Agricultural College and Biographical sketches of Trustees and Professors. 1915 (Prepared and published after his retirement).