Rácz István (born 1952) is a Hungarian dendrologist,

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

, and

museologist Museology (also called museum studies or museum science) is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and ed ...

Research fields

Woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...

(primarily

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

)

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, conservation, and

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

development.

Biography

Received his diploma from the University of Horticulture, Budapest in 1976. From that year Istvan Racz has worked at the Botanical Department of the

Hungarian Natural History Museum The Hungarian Natural History Museum () in Budapest, dating back to 1802, houses the largest natural history collections of Hungary and the region. History of the museum Foundation In 1802, Count Ferenc Széchényi offered his library and h ...

as a member of the Dendrological Documentation project. Received doctorate and then Ph.D from the University of Silviculture in Sopron, Hungary in 1984 and 1997, respectively. As part of the dendrological documentation team led by Zsolt Debreczy research botanist, he had worked in many leading institutes worldwide, including the

Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University The Arnold Arboretum is a botanical research institution and free public park affiliated with Harvard University and located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, Massachusetts, Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston. Established in 1872, it is the ...

, also in other major herbaria, arboreta and botanical gardens in the U.S.,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Istvan Racz also participated in large-scale botanical expeditions led to various parts of the temperate and adjacent zones, including northern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. Co-author or author of numerous books and scientific articles.

Selected publications

Scientific journal articles

* * Rácz, I., – Huyen, D. D. (2007): Study of a low-elevation occurrence of Pinus dalatensis Ferré (Pinaceae) in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam. Studia bot. hung. 38: 133–142.

Books

* Vajda, L. – Rácz, I. Flora Photographica Hungarica. (text with: Zs. Debreczy & F. Németh) Képzőművészeti Kiadó, Budapest. 180 p. 1984 (in Hungarian). * Debreczy, Zs. & Rácz, I.: Fenyők a Föld Körül (Conifers Around the Earth). in Hungarian with English summary. Dendrological Foundation, Budapest, 2000. pp. 552. * Debreczy, Zs. – Rácz, I. (2011): Conifers Around the World. DendroPress Ltd., Budapest. pp. 1089.

Awards

* Award of Excellence, Ministry of Education and Culture, Hungary. 1979 * Honorary Professor, Budapest Corvinus University (2013)

Fellowships

* Mercer Fellowship,

, United States (1988–1990) * Synthesys Project (EU),

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

, Scotland (2011) * Visiting Scientist,

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

, Japan (2013)

References

External links

Hungarian Natural History Museum - Department of Botany, Herbarium Generale - István Rácz profile

Conifers Around the World (Curriculum vitae - István Rácz)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Racz, Istvan Botanists with author abbreviations 20th-century Hungarian botanists Scientists from Budapest 1952 births Living people Corvinus University of Budapest alumni 21st-century Hungarian botanists