Lafayette Frederick (9 March 1923 - 29 December 2018) was an American plant pathologist, mycologist, and specialist in

myxomycete Myxogastria/Myxogastrea (myxogastrids, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN) or Myxomycetes (International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, ICN), is a Class (biology), class of slime molds that contains 5 o ...

ecology and systematics.

Career

In 1943, Frederick earned his bachelor's degree at the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. He pursued graduate work at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

before earning his master's degree in botany at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

in 1950. He earned his PhD at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

under . Frederick joined the biology department at

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

, before becoming chair of the Department of Biology at

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...

. He later joined the Department of Botany at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

in 1976, where he worked before retiring in 1993. Frederick served as vice president of the

Association of Southeastern Biologists The Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB) is a scientific professional organization in the southeastern United States focused on promoting research and education across the biological sciences. The ASB hosts an annual meeting featuring pape ...

from 1984 to 1985, and as president from 1985 to 1986.

Legacy

The Lafayette Frederick Underrepresented Minorities Scholarship is a scholarship given by the Association of Southeastern Biologists.

Harold St. John Harold St. John (July 24/25 1892 – December 12, 1991) was a professor of botany at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa from 1929 to 1958. A prolific specialist in field botany and systematics, he is credited with discovering about 500 new spe ...

named the species '' Cyrtandra frederickii'' in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick, Lafayette American mycologists 1923 births 2018 deaths African-American biologists 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century African-American people