Middle Period 1910-1944
 
1910 · Ernst Athearn Bessey appointed chair of Botany. Retired in 1944.
1913 · Seminarium Botanicum
(Sem Bot) a botanical honorary society, established by G.H. Coons. It continued until about 1956. The original chapter was established at the Univ. of Nebraska by C.E. Bessey in 1886.
1925 ·
First Ph.D. at MAC awarded to E.J. Petry, for research on the root nodules of Ceanothus americanus. Of the MAC faculty with Ph.D. degrees, one-third were in the Department of Botany.
1925 ·
College name changed to Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science.
1932 ·
Department name changed to Botany and Plant Pathology.

 

 Notable Scientists Whose Careers Began At MAC/MSU
 
Ruth Allen - Faculty, 1910-14. Cytology of rust fungi at Wellesley College and USDA, Berkeley, Calif. APS Ruth Allen Award in her honor.
George H. Coons - Faculty, 1910-29.
Sugarbeet pathology, Beltsville, Md.
Carlyle W. Bennett - Faculty, 1917-28.
Sugarbeet pathology, USDA, Salinas, Calif.
Carl Swanson - Faculty, 1941-43.
Cytogeneticist. Distinguished career at Johns Hopkins Univ., Univ. of Massachusetts, and The National Institutes of Health.

 

 Distinguished Alumni
 
Harold H. McKinney - B.S. 1918. Outstanding cereal virologist, USDA, in Madison, Wis. and Arlington, Va.
Henry J. Oosting - M.S. 1927.
Eminent ecologist at Duke Univ., Durham, N.C.
Eugene C. Ogden - B.S. 1932.
New York State Botanist.
Horace L. Barnett - Ph.D. 1937; MSC Faculty, 1937-40.
Famous fungal physiologist and Chair of Department of Plant Pathology, W. Va. Univ., Morgantown.
John R. Reeder - B.S. 1939.
Curator of Herbarium and Chair of Botany Department, Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn.

 

 Members of the Faculty, 1940
 
Herbert C. Beeskow - Plant Physiology
Ernst A. Bessey - Chair, Mycology
Donald Cation - Fruit Pathology
Henry T. Darlington -
Taxonomy
Richard de Zeeuw - General Botany
Buford H. Grigsby - Selective Herbicides
Rufus P. Hibbard -
Plant Physiology
Jessie H. Muncie - Potato and Bean Pathology
Ray Nelson - Muck Crop and Ornamental Pathology
Forrest C. Strong - Forest and Woody Ornamental Pathology
Miriam C. Strong - Tomato and Greenhouse Vegetable Pathology
Edward F. Woodcock - Anatomy and Histology

 

Advanced Degrees - Some Firsts
 
 Degree  Year  Name

 Gender
 Thesis Title  Major Professor
 M.S. * 1912 Mancel T. Munn

M
Seed Trade Conditions in Michigan N/A
 M.S.* 1924 Miriam Carpenter

F
Identification of the Genus Fusarium: Biological Relationships Bessey & Coons
 Ph.d. 1925 Edward J. Petry

M
Physiological Studies in Ceanothus americanus: The Root Nodules and Some Characters of the Causal Organism Bessey & Hibbard
Ph.D. 1926 Elba E. Watson

F
Contributions to a Monograph of the Genus Helianthus N/A

*Based on available theses

 

Faculty Women and Minorities - Some Firsts
 
First woman faculty member: Ruth Allen (Ph.D.). Instructor 1910-14.
First woman faculty member to receive tenure: Miriam Carpenter Strong (M.S.).
Assistant in Research 1924-40, Assistant Professor 1940-62.
First minority faculty member (Asian-Am.): Harry H. Murakishi (Ph.D.)
1956-88.
First minority faculty member (African-Am.): Clifford J. Pollard (Ph.D.)
1960-88.