Charles Edwin Bessey (21 May 1845 – 25 February 1915) was an American

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Biography

He was born at

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

, Wayne County, Ohio. He graduated in 1869 at the Michigan Agricultural College. Bessey also studied at Harvard University under

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

, in 1872 and in 1875–76. He was professor of botany at the Iowa Agricultural College, today known as Iowa State University from 1870 to 1884. In 1884, he was appointed professor of botany at the University of Nebraska and became head dean there in 1909. He also served as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska from 1888 to 1891 and again from 1899 to 1900.RG05, Chancellor records
, UNL Archives and Special Collections. Retrieved on July 10, 2009. He served as president 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 ...

in 1911. Bessey's son,

Ernst Bessey Ernst Athearn Bessey (February 20, 1877 – July 17, 1957) was an American mycologist, botanist and plant pathologist who served as professor of mycology and botany and dean of the graduate school at Michigan State University. He was the son of an ...

was Professor of Mycology and Botany at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Selected publications

Books

* ''The Geography of Iowa'' (Cincinnati, 1878) * ''Botany for High Schools and Colleges'' (New York, 1880) * revision of McNab's ''Botany'' (1881) * ''The Essentials of Botany'' (1884) * ''Elementary Botany'' (1904) * ''Plant Migration Studies'' (1905) * ''Synopsis of Plant Phyla'' (1907) * ''Outlines of Plant Phyla'' (1909) * written with others, ''New Elementary Agriculture'' (ninth edition, 1911)

Articles

* *

Legacy

His arrangement of flowering plants taxa, with focus on the evolutionary divergence of primitive forms, is considered by many as the system most likely to form the basis of a modern, comprehensive taxonomy of the plant kingdom. In 1967, Iowa State University built a Plant Industry Building, which was named after Bessey. Today the building is used by departments in the biological sciences. In 2009 he was inducted to the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

References

Bibliography

* * *Overfield, Richard A. ''Science With Practice: Charles E. Bessey and the Maturing of American Botany''. Iowa State University Press Series in the History of Technology and Science. Iowa State Press, 1993. () *Pool, Raymond J
''A brief sketch of the life and work of Charles Edwin Bessey''
Botanical Society of America, 1915. *Tobey, Ronald C. 1981. Saving the Prairies: The Life Cycle of the Founding School of American Plant Ecology, 1895-1955. Berkeley: University of California Press. () *

External links

*

at the Iowa State University Library. Retrieved on July 10, 2009.
Charles Bessey papers
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Retrieved on October 13, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bessey, Charles Edwin 1845 births 1915 deaths American science writers American botanists American botanical writers American male non-fiction writers Michigan State University alumni Harvard University alumni Iowa State University faculty University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty People from Wayne County, Ohio Chancellors of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln