Gilbert Morgan Smith (6 January 1885,

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit ( ) is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. Beloit is a principal city of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area (Rock Co ...

– 11 July 1959) was a

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 ...

and phycologist, who worked primarily on the

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

. He was best known for his books, particularly the ''Freshwater Algae of the United States'', the ''Marine Algae of the Monterey Peninsula'' and the two volumes of '' Cryptogamic Botany''.

Career

Smith was born on 6 January 1885 to Elizabeth Mayher Smith and Erastus G. Smith in Beloit, Wisconsin, where his father was Professor of Chemistry at the

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

. His parents were both born in Massachusetts and educated there, at Mt. Holyoke College and

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

respectively. Smith attended Beloit College, where he concentrated on

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 ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, and graduated in 1907. He taught science at the high school in Stoughton, Wisconsin for the next two years, before beginning graduate studies at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1909, where he started work on the algal genus '' Oedogonium''. He interrupted his studies for a one-year teaching appointment at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

in 1910–1911. In 1913 he completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

and also married Helen Pfuderer. He remained in the Botany Department at Wisconsin, where he continued to work on algae, especially desmids, eventually reaching the position of associate professor. He was invited to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

for 1923–1924, and in 1925 became Professor of Botany there. In 1924 he wrote together with his colleagues a botany textbook, '' A textbook of general botany'', which gives a broad introduction to the various elements and concepts of general botany. In 1950 he became

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who 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". In some c ...

Professor, but remained scientifically active until his death on 11 July 1959.

Eponymy

Several species and genera of algae have been named in honor of Gilbert M. Smith: * '' Gilbertsmithia'' M.O.P. Iyengar * '' Smithiella'' B.P. Skvortsov * '' Smithimastix'' B.P. Skvortsov * '' Smithora'' G.J. Hollenberg * '' Hymenena smithii'' Kylin * '' Gymnogongrus smithii'' Taylor * '' Pseudostaurastrum smithii'' Bourrelly * '' Chlamydomonas smithiana'' Pascher * '' Dactylococcopsis smithii'' R. & F. Chodat * '' Tetradesmus smithii'' Prescott * '' Debarya smithii'' Transeau * '' Gloeochloris smithiana'' Pascher * '' Polysiphonia flaccidissima var. smithii'' Hollenberg

References

External links

* G. M. Smith (1938)
Cryptogamic Botany, vol. 1
McGraw-Hill, New York. * G. M. Smith (1955)
Cryptogamic Botany, vol. 2
McGraw-Hill, New York. 2nd ed. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gilbert Morgan 20th-century American botanists Beloit College alumni 1885 births 1959 deaths People from Beloit, Wisconsin American phycologists Stanford University faculty Pomona College faculty Presidents of the Phycological Society of America

Career

Eponymy

See also

References

External links