Guy Richard Bisby (1889–1958) was an

American Canadian American Canadians are Canadians of American descent. The term is most often used to refer to Canadians who migrated from or have ancestry from the United States. Demography According to the 2016 Census, 29,590 Canadians reported American as ...

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

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 ...

plant pathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungus, fung ...

. He spent his early career working as a professor at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Imperial Mycological Institute in Kew, England. He published around fifty books and papers in mycology that extensively contributed to the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and nomenclature of

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

Biography

Guy Richard Bisby was born on August 17, 1889, in

Brookings, South Dakota Brookings is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. Brookings is South Dakota's List of cities in South Dakota, fourth largest city, with a population of 23,377 at the 2020 United States census, 20 ...

. He grew up in South Dakota and earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

South Dakota State College South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

in 1912, and continued working at the college for a year after. He then worked as an assistant at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York from 1913 to 1914, where he gained an interest in

. He studied at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York from 1914 to 1915. He also did work on

potato diseases This is a list of diseases and disorders found in potatoes. Bacterial diseases Fungal diseases Protistan diseases Viral and viroid diseases Nematode parasitic Phytoplasmal diseases Miscellaneous diseases and disorders References Com ...

, working as a consulting pathologist to the American Potato Corporation in Presque Isle, Maine. He worked as an assistant in botany with

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...

, from 1915 to 1916. While at Purdue, he worked with the plant pathologist and mycologist

Joseph Charles Arthur Joseph Charles Arthur (January 11, 1850 – April 30, 1942) was a pioneer American plant pathologist and mycologist best known for his work with the parasitic rust fungi (Pucciniales).Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press ...

. In 1916, he married Helen Hitchcock. He moved to Minnesota in 1916 where he both studied and worked at the

. He finished his

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Columbia in 1917, albeit via his studies in Minnesota. At UM, he earned his doctorate in 1920, and became an Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology. At the invitation of

Arthur Henry Reginald Buller Arthur Henry Reginald Buller, (19 August 1874 – 3 July 1944) was a British-Canadian mycologist. He is mainly known as a researcher of fungi and wheat rust. Academic career Born in Moseley, Birmingham, England, he was educated at Queen's C ...

, the founder of the Botany Department at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada in 1920 to join Buller's department as a professor of plant pathology there. Sadly, his wife Helen died of illness in 1920.

Mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

and plant pathology have a strong overlap due to

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH ...

s, pathogenic plant-killing fungal diseases. Bisby took a year's long leave of absence in 1921–1922 to visit the Imperial Bureau of Mycology in Kew, England. After his return to Manitoba, he set about systemizing and collecting fungi in the region. The result was the 1929 book ''The Fungi of Manitoba'', which he co-authored with Buller and

John Dearness John Dearness (13 May 1852 – 6 December 1954) was a Canadian educator, botanist, and mycologist. Largely self taught he conducted scientific studies in plant pathology leading to B.T. Dickson of the McGill University called him the "Rostrup" of Ca ...

. In 1931, he and co-author Edwin John Butler published ''The Fungi of India'', partially based on samples collected while Bisby was on sabbatical there. Bisby remarried in 1936 to Berenice Butler, an English artist. Preparing to move to England, he resigned from the University of Manitoba. During his term in Winnipeg, Bisby (and Buller's team) had gathered several thousand fungi samples which were stored in the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

of the University of Manitoba. The collection was later transferred to the Canadian National Mycological Herbarium (DAOM) in Ottawa.Guy Richard Bisby
citing Estey, Ralph H. (1994) Essays on the early history of plant pathology and mycology in Canada. McGill-Queens University Press. p. 276-277. He also republished ''The Fungi of Manitoba'' in an expanded second edition in 1939. Bisby was still close friends with Buller, and as Buller grew ill late in his life, he arranged for Bisby to edit the seventh and final volume of Buller's work ''Researches on Fungi''. Buller died in 1943, and the work was eventually published in 1950. Bisby and his new wife moved to England in 1937, returning to Kew where he had worked at the Imperial Mycological Institute (the new name of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology) in 1921. Among others, Bisby collaborated with

Geoffrey Clough Ainsworth Geoffrey Clough Ainsworth (9 October 1905 in Birmingham – 25 October 1998 in Derby) was a British mycologist and scientific historian. He was the older brother of Ruth Ainsworth. Education and work Ainsworth received his doctorate fr ...

while in England. The two published ''A Dictionary of the Fungi'' in 1943, with a 2nd edition in 1945, a 3rd edition in 1950, and a 4th edition in 1954. The dictionary would continue to be repeatedly updated and kept in print by later mycologists, with later editions called ''Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi'' directly in the title. It is currently on its 10th edition, most recently updated in 2008. Bisby wrote ''An Introduction to the Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Fungi'' in 1945, as well as an updated second edition in 1953. Bisby also co-authored with

Thomas Petch Thomas Petch (born Hornsea, Yorkshire, 11 March 1870; died King's Lynn, Norfolk, 24 December 1948) was a prolific English mycologist and plant pathologist best remembered for his work on the interaction between fungi and insects. Biography P ...

''The Fungi of Ceylon'', published in 1950 after Petch's death in 1948. Bisby retired in 1954. After a four-year illness, he died on September 3, 1958, at his home in

Staines, Middlesex Staines-upon-Thames is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town was transferred to ...

. Obituaries often noted that Bisby had a reputation as a hard worker who largely skipped conferences, committees, and meetings, eschewing administrative work to doggedly gather samples and write articles and books with his co-authors. Other than his work on the fungi of Manitoba, India, and Ceylon, Bisby's areas of expertise included catalogs of Pyrenomycetes, Hyphomycetes, and rusts of Great Britain; as well as work on

Hysteriales The Hysteriales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the class Dothideomycetes, subclass Pleosporomycetidae. It consists of a single family (biology), family, Hysteriaceae. Members of Hysteriales produce elongated, often boat shaped sexual s ...

. Honors he received including the University of Manitoba awarding him a medal in 1956 for his contributions to mycology, as well as serving as a vice-president in the British Mycological Society.

References

External links

Publications of G. R. Bisby
at Cybertruffle {{DEFAULTSORT:Bisby, Guy Richard 1889 births 1958 deaths People from Brookings, South Dakota American mycologists Canadian mycologists American phytopathologists Canadian phytopathologists South Dakota State University alumni Columbia University alumni University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences alumni American emigrants to Canada