Johannes Max Proskauer (December 5, 1923 – December 20, 1970) was born in Göttingen, Germany. He travelled to England via a ''Kindertransport.'' His mother died in 1943 and his father was murdered in Auschwitz. He attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, which awarded him a

B.Sc. 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 ...

in 1944, a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1947, and a

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

in 1964, all in the field of

botany 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 w ...

. In 1948, Proskauer moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, where he became an instructor in botany at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1954. He became a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

citizen in 1957. Professor Proskauer's thesis research was concerned with the

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

of the British species of the

hornwort Hornworts are a group of non-vascular Embryophytes (land plants) constituting the division Anthocerotophyta (). The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte. As in mosses and liverworts, hornworts have a ...

Anthoceros ''Anthoceros'' is a genus of hornworts in the family Anthocerotaceae. It is distributed globally. Species of ''Anthoceros'' are characterized by having a small to medium-sized, green thallus that is more or less lobed along the margins. Etymolo ...

''. Much of his life's work focussed on this group, and in 1951, he recognized and defined the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Phaeoceros'' for the first time. He continued to work at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

on the morphology and

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

on the hornworts and also the

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

s. He died in 1970, leaving a legacy of careful and meticulous study.

Works

* (1948) ''Studies on the morphology of Anthoceros. I''. Annals of Bot., Ser. 2, 12: 237-265. * (1948) ''Studies on the morphology of Anthoceros. II''. Annals of Bot., Ser. 2, 12: 427-439. * (1951) ''Studies on Anthocerotales. III''. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 78: 331-349. * (1951) ''Studies on Anthocerotales. IV''. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 80: 65-75. * (1954) ''A study of the Phaeoceros laevis complex and the European Anthocerotae''. Rapp. et Comm. VIII Cong. Int. Bot., Paris xiv-xvi: 68-69. * (1958) ''Studies on Anthocerotales. V''. Phytomorphology 7: 113-135. * (1960) ''Studies on Anthocerotales. VI''. Phytomorphology 10: 1-19. * (1962) ''On Carrpos. I''. Phytomorphology 11: 359-378. * (1962) ''On Takakia, especially its mucilage hairs''. J. Hattori Bot. Lab 25: 217-223. * (1965) ''On the liverwort Phyllothallia''. Phytomorphology 15: 375-379. * (1968) ''Studies on Anthocerotales. VII''. Phytomorphology 17: 61-70. * (1969) ''Studies on Anthocerotales. VIII''. Phytomorphology 19: 52-66.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proskauer, Johannes Max Bryologists 1923 births 1970 deaths University of California, Berkeley faculty Scientists from Göttingen Scientists from California 20th-century German scientists 20th-century American botanists German expatriates in the United Kingdom German emigrants to the United States