Kenneth Vivian Thimann (August 5, 1904 – January 15, 1997) was an English-American plant physiologist and

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

known for his studies of

plant hormones Plant hormone (or phytohormones) are signal molecules, produced within plants, that occur in extremely low concentrations. Plant hormones control all aspects of plant growth and development, from embryogenesis, the regulation of organ size, pat ...

, which were widely influential in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. He isolated and determined the structure of

auxin Auxins (plural of auxin ) are a class of plant hormones (or plant-growth regulators) with some morphogen-like characteristics. Auxins play a cardinal role in coordination of many growth and behavioral processes in plant life cycles and are essenti ...

, the first known plant hormone. He spent most of his early career (1935–1965) at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and his later career (1965 - ) at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

.Charles Daniel,
Kenneth V. Thimann, Biology: Santa Cruz
, ''University of California: In Memoriam, 1997'', edited by David Krogh. Academic Senate, University of California, 1997, pp. 163-165. Accessed March 5, 2009. Thimann was born in Ashford, England. He studied chemistry and biochemistry at

Imperial College, University of London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

(earning a B.Sc. and a Ph.D.) and also received a diploma from the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The unive ...

. After several years teaching at the University of London, Thimann moved to the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1930. In 1935, he joined the Biology department of

. He authored an influential book on plant hormones, ''Phytohormones'', in 1937 (co-authored with F. W. Went). He was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1938. Thimann became director of Harvard's Biological Laboratories in 1946, a position he held until 1950. He was elected to the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1948. In 1955 he wrote ''The Life of Bacteria'', an influential book on microbiology. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1959. From 1962 until leaving Harvard in 1965, Thimann was the Higgins Professor of Biology. Thimann moved to University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) in 1965—the year of its founding—to become the first provost of Crown College. At UCSC, he was largely responsible for building the science departments of the new university. He also played a central role in fostering the UCSC Arboretum and its botanical collection. After retiring as provost in 1972, Thimann remained at UCSC until 1989, when he moved to

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) open ...

. In 1977, he wrote ''Hormone Action in the Whole Life of Plants''. He won the

Balzan Prize The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the br ...

in 1982 in recognition of his contributions to botany.

Notes and references

External links

Kenneth V. Thimann: Early UCSC History and the Founding of Crown College
- posthumous memoir by Randall Jarrell based on interviews with Thimann and his colleagues
Guide to the Kenneth V. Thimann papers UC Santa Cruz LibraryPhotographs of Kenneth V. Thimann from the UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thimann, Kenneth V 1904 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American botanists University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Harvard University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Plant physiologists British emigrants to the United States People from Ashford, Kent Members of the American Philosophical Society