Lester Whyland Sharp (April 21, 1887 in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...

– July 17, 1961 in

Nuevo, California Nuevo (Spanish for "New") is a rural community located east of Lake Perris and the city of Perris in Riverside County, California. The population of the census-designated place (CDP) is 6,733 according to the 2020 census, up from 6,447 at the 2 ...

) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, a pioneer in

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

.Obituaries: Lester W. Sharp
'' Plant Science Bulletin'', 1962, vol.8, no. 1 He received a BS from

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...

in 1908. After two years at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, he transferred to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

where he received his PhD in 1912. His postdoctoral work was in association with the

University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Subsequently, he was with

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

until his retirement as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

in 1947.

Barbara McClintock Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was an American scientist and cytogenetics, cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University ...

worked as a research assistant for

Lowell Fitz Randolph Lowell Fitz Randolph (7 October 1894 – 28 May 1980) was an American scientist, in the field of genetics, botany and horticulture. He was a Cornell College graduate who became Professor of Botany and was also employed as an associate cytologi ...

and then for Lester W. Sharp, during her graduate studies. He authored two classical textbooks in

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

: ''An Introduction to Cytology'' (1921) and ''Fundamentals of cytology'' (1943) He was vice-president of the American Society of Naturalists in 1924, vice-president of the Botanical Society of America in 1929 and president in 1930. He served on the editorial boards of the ''

American Journal of Botany The ''American Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of plant biology. It has been published by the Botanical Society of America since 1914. The journal has an impact factor of 3.038, as of 20 ...

'', '' Stain Technology'' and the '' Botanical Review''. He was awarded an honorary DSc by

in 1930 and by the

in 1957. In 1915 he was elected a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. In 1958 he received 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 soc ...

Merit Award. The nomination from the Cornell University said: "His contributions, both by personal investigations and by successive editions of carefully edited textbooks, have made plant cytology a significant field of Botany."

Professional humor

The wit of professor Sharp was also expressed in

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

ous vein. The most notable examples are his retirement address as president of the Botanical Society entitled "A Nuclear Century", in which he lively reviews studies on the

nucleus Nucleus (: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleu ...

. Another one is a hoax presented together with graduate student, Cuthbert Fraser, about the most unusual bird from the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...

, '' Eoörnis pterovelox gobiensis'', which has later been numerously reprinted in the form of a PhD thesis, e.g., as.Augustus C. Fotheringham (2007) "Eoörnis Pterovelox Gobiensis,

lulu.com Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles. The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young; ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Lester Whyland 20th-century American botanists 1961 deaths Alma College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Chicago alumni Cornell University faculty Professional humor 1887 births