Carlene Allen "Cardy" Raper (January 9, 1925 – September 5, 2019) was an American

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

and science writer. She identified that the fungus ''

Schizophyllum commune ''Schizophyllum commune'' is a species of fungus in the genus ''Schizophyllum''. The mushroom resembles undulating waves of tightly packed corals or loose Chinese fan. "Gillies" or "split gills" vary from creamy yellow to pale white in colour. Th ...

'' has over 23,000

mating type Mating types are the microorganism equivalent to sexes in multicellular lifeforms and are thought to be the ancestor to distinct Sex, sexes. They also occur in macro-organisms such as fungi. Definition Mating types are the microorganism equivalent ...

s. She is regarded as one of the first women

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

s in mycology. She was a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Early life and education

Raper wanted to be a scientist from the age of eight. She earned a master's degree in science at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1946. She worked on '' Achlya'' and ''

''. She married her college supervisor, John (Red) Raper, in 1949. She earned her PhD in 1977.

Career

Raper worked alongside her husband, Red Raper, on the mating-type mutants of '' Schizophyllum''. Her husband was chair of the biology department at Harvard University when he died in 1974. After this, Cardy Raper began her formal career in science, working at Harvard University as a researcher and lecturer from 1974. She worked in the Netherlands at the

University of Hagen The University of Hagen (german: link=no, FernUniversität in Hagen, informally often referred to as FU Hagen) is a public research university that is primarily focused on distance teaching. While its main campus is located in Hagen, North Rh ...

with Jos Wessels. In 1978 she joined

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

as an assistant professor. After spending the summer of 1982 working with Bob Ullrich at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, she decided to move there. In 1983 she set up her own independent research laboratory the University of Vermont. She remained there as an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

after her retirement in 1994. Raper identified that ''Schizophyllum commune'' had more than 23,000 mating types. In 2008 there was a celebration of her contributions to science. In 2012 she was elected as a Fellow of the

. In 2017 she spoke at the

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

Writers Workshop. Her son, Jonathan Raper, is a professor of cell biology at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. She and Red Raper also had a daughter, Linda. Raper died after a brief illness at her summer home in

Ferrisburgh, Vermont Ferrisburgh is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. It was founded June 24, 1762. The population was 2,646 at the 2020 census. The town is sometimes spelled Ferrisburg. History The site that would eventually become Ferrisburgh was ...

, on September 5, 2019, at the age of 94.

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raper, Cardy Mycologists American mycologists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Wellesley College faculty Harvard University faculty University of Chicago alumni University of Vermont alumni Women mycologists 1925 births 2019 deaths