Robert Earle Buchanan (March 27, 1883,

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

– 1973,

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

) was an American bacteriologist and a professor and administrator at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. He is known for his work on bacterial taxonomy.

Biography

Buchanan grew up on a farm. He graduated in 1904 with a B.S. and in 1906 with an M.S. from Iowa State College (now named Iowa State University). He worked as an undergraduate as a student assistant to Louis Hermann Pammel, whom he accompanied on botanical surveys. He was from 1904 to 1906 as teaching assistant in bacteriology under Pammel. In 1908 Buchanan received his Ph.D. in bacteriology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. His doctoral dissertation ''The Morphology of Bacillus Radicicola'', written under the supervision of

Edwin O. Jordan Edwin Oakes Jordan (also spelled as Jordon; July 28, 1866 – September 2, 1936) was a prominent American bacteriologist and public health scientist. Jordan’s scientific work began in 1888 right after his graduation from the Massachusetts Inst ...

, deals with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in the nodules of a variety of legume species. At Iowa State College, Buchanan was from 1908 to 1909 an associate professor and was appointed in 1909 a full professor. He founded in 1910 the college's department of bacteriology and headed the department until his retirement in 1948. Two important bacteriologists in the early history of the department are Max Levine (1889–1967) and

Chester Hamlin Werkman Chester Hamlin Werkman (June 17, 1893, Fort Wayne, Indiana – September 10, 1962, Ames, Iowa) was an American microbiologist. He is known as one of the pioneers of understanding and reconstructing the enzymatic processes involved in bacterial metab ...

(1893–1962) (who was Buchanan's doctoral student). Buchanan was the dean of Iowa State's Graduate College from 1919 to 1948 and director of the Iowa Agriculture Experiment Station from 1933 to 1945. Buchanan was elected in 1913 a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. In 1918 he was the president of the Society of American Bacteriologists (renamed in 1960 the

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It ...

). In 1935 he was the president of the

Iowa Academy of Science The Iowa Academy of Science is the oldest existing scientific association in Iowa, founded in 1875. It was established to promote scientific research, science education, public understanding of science, and recognition of excellence. Its membershi ...

. He married Estelle Denis Fogel in 1910. Their son Joseph Hall Buchanan became a patent attorney and a brigadier-general.

Selected publications

Articles

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Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Robert Earle 1883 births 1973 deaths Iowa State University alumni University of Chicago alumni Iowa State University faculty American bacteriologists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Presidents of the American Society for Microbiology