Mildred Esther Mathias (September 19, 1906 – February 16, 1995) was an American

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 ...

and professor. She was a professor at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

from 1962 until 1974. She also served as president of the American Society for Plant Taxonomists and the

Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soci ...

Early career

Mathias was born in Sappington, Missouri on September 19, 1906. Beginning her college career in the 1920s, Mathias originally had planned to study mathematics, but she instead studied botany, getting her bachelor's, master's degree and PhD at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

by the age of 22. She married Gerald Hassler, a PhD in Physics, in Philadelphia in August 1930. From 1932 to 1936, Mathias was a research associate at the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

and then 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 ...

by 1937 with Dr. Lincoln Constance for carrot studies. Her family moved to southern California by 1944.

Career

She studied, classified, and led groups to discover plants across the world, from Southeastern Asia to Australia, to South-Central Africa, to the Amazons, to the western United States, helping popularize "ecotourism". She discovered over 100 types of

Umbelliferae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

, or carrots. In 1954, The genus '' Mathiasella'', a north-eastern Mexico umbellifer, was named in her honor. Her first trip abroad as a retired professor was to Costa Rica in 1974 and led 53 trips since and to over 30 countries. She published over 200 articles and books about her findings. She placed a strong emphasis on education for the general public, both directing the UCLA botanical garden (which was renamed the

Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located on the southeastern corner of the University of California, Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles (University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA) campus, California, United States. ...

in her honor) and hosting a weekly television show via NBC on gardening with co-host Dr. William Stewart called "The Wonderful World of Ornamentals". Mathias helped establish the

University of California Natural Reserve System The University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) is a system of protected areas throughout California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Co ...

(Natural Reserve System) a system of undisturbed California habitats that was acquired and managed by the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

for university teaching and research. She promoted conservation in Costa Rica, creating the

Organization for Tropical studies The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), founded in 1963, is a non-profit consortium of over 50 universities and research institutions based in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. OTS manages a network of ecological research s ...

, helping with preservation of Costa Rican lands.

Awards

* California Conservation Council Merit Award, 1962 *

Medical Auxiliary Woman of Science Award, 1963 *Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year, 1964 *

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

National Award, 1964
Pacific Coast Nurseryman
Award for Outstanding Achievement in Horticulture, 1967 *Merit Award from the

, 1973 *Award of Merit by the

American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta The American Public Gardens Association, formerly the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, is an association of public-garden institutions and professionals primarily in the United States and Canada. Over the last six decades, ...

, 1976 *Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal from the American Horticulture Society, 1980 *Medal of Honor from the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the record ...

for outstanding horticulturist who has made a contribution in the fields of research and education, 1982 *Honorary Fellow of the

Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

, 1986 *Charles Lawrence Hutchinson Medal of th
Chicago Horticultural Society
1988 *Honorary Trustee of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 1989 *

Emeritus Professor of the Year, 1990 *Distinguished Economic Botanist by the Society of Economic Botany, 1993

Leadership

: Herbarium Botanist under Carl Epling (1947), Plant Taxonomy Lecturer (1951), Assistant Professor in Botany Department, Vice Chair (1955), Director of UCLA Botanical Garden (1956) * Helped establish the UC Natural Land and Water Reserves System (Natural Reserve System), 1960s * First Female President of

American Society of Plant Taxonomists The American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT) is a botanical organization formed in 1935 to "foster, encourage, and promote education and research in the field of plant taxonomy, to include those areas and fields of study that contribute to and b ...

, 1964 * President of

Organization for Tropical Studies The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), founded in 1963, is a non-profit consortium of over 50 universities and research institutions based in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. OTS manages a network of ecological research s ...

, 1969-1970 * First executive director of the Association of American Botanical Gardens and Arboreta: created a certification program in horticulture that linked universities with hands-on training at a network of horticultural gardens, 1977-1981 * President of

, 1984

Writing

* Mathias, Mildred E. "Studies on the Umbelliferae. I." in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1928) 15: 91-108. * Mathias, Mildred E. "Studies on the Umbelliferae. II." in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1929) 16: 393- 398. * Mathias, Mildred E. "Studies on the Umbelliferae. III." A Monograph of Cymopterus Including A Critical Study of Related Genera" in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1930). 17: 213- 476. * Mathias, Mildred E. "Studies on the Umbelliferae. IV." in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1932). 19: 497- 498. * Hinton, George B.; Mathias, Mildred E.; Constance, Lincoln "Herbarium of George B. Hinton, Umbelliferae" in Plant Lists, Mexico. (1931- 1941). * Mathias, Mildred E. "A Revision of the Genus Lomatium" in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1938). 25: 225-297. * Mathias, Mildred E. and Constance, Lincoln "A SYNOPSIS OF THE AMERICAN SPECIES OF CICUTA" in: Madroño: a West American journal of botany. Berkeley, California Botanical Society (1942). 6: 145- 151. * Mathias, Mildred E. and Constance, Lincoln "A NEW SPECIES OF TAUSCHIA FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON" in Madroño: a West American journal of botany. Berkeley, California Botanical Society (1943). 7: 65- 67. * Raven, Peter H. and Mathias, Mildred E. "SANICULA DESERTICOLA, AN ENDEMIC OF BAJA CALIFORNIA" in: Madroño: a West American journal of botany. Berkeley, California Botanical Society (1960). 15: 193- 197. * Mathias, Mildred E. "Distribution Patterns of Certain Umbelliferae" in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1965). 52: 387-398. * Mathias, Mildred E.; Constance, Lincoln; Theobald, William L "TWO NEW SPECIES OF UMBELLIFERAE FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES" in: Madroño: a West American journal of botany. Berkeley, California Botanical Society (1969). 20: 214- 219. * Mathias, Mildred E. and Constance, Lincoln "NEW AND RECONSIDERED MEXICAN UMBELLIFERAE" in: Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium. Ann Arbor :University Herbarium, University of Michigan (1977). 24: 78-83. * Mathias, Mildred E. and Constance, Lincoln "A NEW SPECIES OF OREOMYRRHS (UMBELLIFERAE, APIACEAE) FROM NEW GUINEA)" in: Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. Cambridge, Mass (1977). 58: 190-192. * Mathias, Mildred E. "Color for the Landscape: Flowering Plants for Subtropical Climates." (1976). * Mathias, Mildred E. "Flowering Plants in the Landscape." University of California Press. (1985).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathias, Mildred Esther American taxonomists 01 1906 births 1995 deaths American women botanists Women taxonomists Botanists active in California University of California, Los Angeles faculty Botanical Society of America People from Los Angeles People from St. Louis County, Missouri Scientists from California 20th-century American botanists 20th-century American women scientists