Otis Freeman Curtis (12 February 1888,

Sendai, Japan is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date ...

– 4 July 1949,

Cape Cod, Massachusetts Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

) 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

plant physiologist Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bio ...

, at the State Agricultural Experimental Station, and professor of botany at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

.Makers of American Botany,

Harry Baker Humphrey Harry Baker Humphrey (1873–1955) was an American botanist.Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435 He was a pathologist with the USDA, specializing on research on breeding resi ...

, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435 He made important contributions to the study of

translocation Translocation may refer to: * Chromosomal translocation, a chromosome abnormality caused by rearrangement of parts ** Robertsonian translocation, a chromosomal rearrangement in pairs 13, 14, 15, 21, and 22 ** Nonreciprocal translocation, transfer ...

. His parents were in Japan because his father, a Congregational minister, was working as a missionary. He graduated in 1911 with A.B. from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and, influenced by Susan Percival Nichol, focused on botany. He was a graduate student at Cornell University from 1911. In 1916 he was awarded a Ph.D. from Cornell University. There he was an instructor in plant physiology from 1913 to 1917, an assistant professor from 1917 to 1922, and a full professor from 1922 until his death. Among his doctoral students was Thomas Wyatt Turner, the first Black American to receive a PhD in botany. He was recognised for his expertise on translocation and published around 30 papers about vegetative reproduction, translocation, temperature and water relations of plants. He was the author of the monograph ''The Translocation of Solutes in Plants'' in 1935 that, through critical review, encouraged further research in this area. He also posthumously co-authored ''An Introduction to Plant Physiology'' with D. G. Clark. Upon his death he was survived by his widow, two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Otis Freeman 20th-century American botanists 1888 births 1949 deaths Oberlin College alumni Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty American expatriates in Japan