Hugh Daniel Wilson (August 15, 1943 – November 5, 2018) was an American botanist and plant taxonomist. He was a professor at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Biography

Wilson attended Alliance High School in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...

, where he ran track and played football. He attended college after serving for four years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in botany, both from

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

. He completed a Ph.D. in botany and anthropology from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

. He joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 1977. In 1980, he received the Edmund H. Fulling Award for the best oral presentation by an early-career scientist at the annual meeting of the Society for Economic Botany. By 1983, Wilson was studying the conditions that allow for the survival of '' Spiranthes parksii'' (Navasota lady's tresses), which was one of 12 endangered plants in Texas. Only 100 to 150 of these

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s had been identified, and they grew in southern Brazos County, Texas. In 1994, when

Upjohn The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm founded in 1886 in Hastings, Michigan, by Dr. William E. Upjohn who was an 1875 graduate of the University of Michigan medical school. The company was originally formed to make ''friabl ...

was seeking approval for a type of genetically engineered squash, Wilson raised concern that the new disease-resistant squash might be able to crossbreed with other types of squash and produce

superweeds Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

. Wilson was interested in the digitization of botanical data. With two colleagues in the late 1990s, he designed a website with photos and descriptions of

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

flowers. The website was named a Coolest Science Site by the

National Academy Press The US National Academies Press (NAP) was created to publish the reports issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Research Co ...

. Wilson was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1990. He retired from Texas A&M in 2011 and died in 2018.

References

1943 births 2018 deaths American botanists Texas A&M University faculty Kent State University alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Alliance, Ohio Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science {{authority control