Beryl B. Simpson is a professor emerita in the Department of Integrative Biology at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
. Previously she was an associate curator at the
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With ...
in the
Department of Botany
Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...
. She studies plant systematics and tropical botany, focusing on
angiosperms
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...
found in the American Southwest, Mexico, and Central and South America. She was awarded the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany for her decades of work on the subject.
Life and career
Simpson became interested in botany as a child. She would cut seeds and try to create hybrids by pushing two ends together. During high school her interest in plants continued, and her science fair project on "The Economic Aspects of the Rose" resulted in her working for
Richard Howard
Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022), adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz, was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a graduate of Columbia University, ...
at the Botanical Museum at Harvard during her junior year. She then attended
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
and in her first year she took a graduate horticulture class taught by Howard, being allowed to take it because of her science fair project.
Her undergraduate advisors included Howard,
Richard Schultes
Richard Evans Schultes (''SHULL-tees'';Jonathan Kandell ''The New York Times'', April 13, 2001, Accessed April 26, 2020. January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) was an American biologist, considered to be the father of modern ethnobotany. He is kno ...
,
Paul Manglesdorf, and
Elso Barghorn.
Simpson graduated with an AB, magna cum laude, from Radcliffe College in 1964. She did not originally think of going to graduate school, as she thought it cost too much money, but changed her mind when she found out otherwise. Because of her excellent undergraduate record she was accepted at Harvard. Her first advisor was
Otto Solbrig, but he moved to Michigan. Her next advisor was
Reed Rollins. Simpson received her MA in 1967 and her PhD was awarded in 1968.
She stayed at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow with Otto Solbrig (who had returned to Harvard)
until 1970, when she accepted a position as an Assistant Curator of the
Gray Herbarium
The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural ...
at Harvard. She then moved to the Smithsonian's
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...
, Department of Botany, as an Associate Curator from 1972 to 1977 and in 1977 was promoted to Curator. In 1978 she moved to the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
as a professor. In 1994 she became the C. L. Lundell Professor of Systematic Botany.
Her research was initially in the field of the biogeography of South America but she then moved on to pollination biology. She has also undertaken basic taxonomic research of the Asteracaeae, Krameriaceae, and Fabaceae, contributing to many Floras of North and South America. She is also considered an inspirational teacher of field-work to graduate students.
Her partner is Jack Neff, an expert on bees native to the American Southwest and South America. Together they have two children, Jonathan and Meghan.
Awards and honors
In 2010 Simpson was the ninth recipient of the José