Arthur Galston

Arthur W. Galston (April 21, 1920 – June 15, 2008) was an American

The

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army captured most of the world's rubber plantations in British Malaya, causing a natural rubber shortage for the Allied armies. Natural rubber came from the rubber tree,

After a year as an instructor at Yale University in 1946–1947, Galston returned to the California Institute of Technology to work with James Bonner as a senior research fellow. While at Caltech, Galston made an important discovery. He identified riboflavin as a photoreceptor involved in the bending of plants toward light. This overturned a commonly held belief that carotene was the photoreceptor involved in phototropism.^[1][10]

In 1950 Galston accepted a Guggenheim Fellowship to spend a year working with Hugo Theorell at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Upon his return to Caltech in 1951, Galston became tenured as an associate professor. His supporters included Bonner and Frits Warmolt Went, both of whom were senior plant biology researchers at Caltech. He co-taught classes in biology with George Beadle, who was then chairman of the biology department.^[3]

In 1955, Galston was offered a full professorship at Yale University by Oswald Tippo, chair of the botany department. In addition to a significant increase in salary and position, it was an opportunity for leadership in an expanding department. Yale, in New Haven, Connecticut, was also closer to family members in New York City and work opportunities for Galston's wife, Dale Judith Kuntz. Galston accepted the offer, and taught at Yale from 1955 onwards.^[3]

At Yale, Galston continued to do research in the areas of

At Yale, increasing amounts of Galston's time were spent in administrative roles. He served as chair of the Departments of Botany and Biology, the university-wide Course of Study Committee, and the Committee on Teaching and Learning. He was also director of the Biological Sciences Division. Following mandatory retirement from the biology department in 1990, he became the Eaton Professor Emeritus in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology as well as professor emeritus in the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. He continued to lecture and write after his retirement, in his second career as a bioethicist.[10] He was president of the

Galston supervised 24 Ph.D. and 67 postdoctoral students from around the world.[10] He authored more than 320 papers and several books on plant physiology, as well as co-editing two books on bioethics.^[17][10]

Bioethics

In 1951,

Galston was deeply affected by this development of his research. In 1972, he described his viewpoint:[18]

I used to think that one could avoid involvement in the antisocial consequences of science simply by not working on any project that might be turned to evil or destructive ends. I have learned that things are not all that simple, and that almost any scientific finding can be perverted or twisted under appropriate societal pressures. In my view, the only recourse for a scientist concerned about the social consequences of his work is to remain involved with it to the end. His responsibility to society does not cease with publication of a definitive scientific paper. Rather, if his discovery is translated into some impact on the world outside the laboratory, he will, in most instances, want to follow through to see that it is used for constructive rather than anti-human purposes.... Science is now too potent in transforming our world to permit random fallout of the social consequences of scientific discoveries. Some scrutiny and regulation are required, and I believe that scientists must play an important role in any bodies devised to carry out such tasks.^[18]

While the United States government argued that

The complex mangrove community lining the estuaries is virtually completely killed by a single spray with agent Orange and regeneration takes several decades, at least... The complete killing of the mangroves is certain to have a major effect on the ecology of the estuarine zone... The ecological and social effects of our massive use of herbicides have not been properly evaluated, and it is doubtful that they ever will be.[18]

Beginning in 1965, Galston lobbied both his scientific colleagues and the government to stop using Agent Orange.^[6] Galston and U.S.

Galston taught bioethics to Yale undergraduates from 1977 to 2004.[17] In 2003-2004 his introductory bioethics course attracted 460 students, making it one of the most popular courses in Yale College.^[6] After his retirement as a biologist in 1990, he became affiliated with Yale's Institution for Social & Policy Studies, where he helped to found the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics.^[23]

Galston also co-founded the National Senior Conservation Corps (Grey is Green), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping older Americans to create positive environmental change and lead more sustainable lives.^[24]

In 1966, Galston successfully nominated Duke Ellington to receive an honorary doctorate from Yale. The Duke received the honor in 1967, but Galston was unable to attend, and did not meet him until 1972.^[25]

Arthur Galston died of

• Guggenheim fellow in Sweden, France, and England, awarded 1946, claimed 1950-51^[29]
• Fulbright fellow in Australia, 1960-61^[30]
• National Science Foundation fellow in England, 1967-68^[10]
• merit award from Botanical Society of America, 1969^[31]
• Phi Beta Kappa national visiting scholar, 1972-73^[32]
• award from New York Academy of Sciences, 1979^[31]
• fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1979^[33]
• Iona College, 1980^[10]
• LL.D., Hebrew Univ, Jerusalem, 1992[10]
• William Clyde DeVane Medal for lifelong teaching and scholarship, 1994^[34][10]
• Alumni Achievement Award, U. Illinois College of LAS in 2004^[15][35]
• Recognized as a Pioneer Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists.^[36]

Books

• Galston, Arthur W.; Bonner, James C. (1952). Principles of Plant Physiology. San Francisco and London: W. H. Freeman & Co. Ltd., reprinted 1959.
• Galston, Arthur W.; Davies, Peter J.; Satter, Ruth L. (1961). The life of the green plant. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall., reprinted 1964, 1968 (as The green plant), 1980, 1990, 1994, 1998.
• Galston, Arthur W.; Davies, Peter J. (1970). Control mechanisms in plant development. Englewood Cliffs N.J: Prentice-Hall.
  ISBN 9780131718012
  .
• Galston, Arthur W.; Savage, Jean S. (1973). Daily life in people's China. New York: Crowell.
  ISBN 978-0465027125
  .
• Galston, Arthur W.; Smith, Terence A., eds. (1985). Polyamines in plants. Dordrecht, Netherlands: M. Nijhoff/W. Junk.
  ISBN 9789024732456
  .
• Galston, Arthur W. (1994). Life processes of plants. New York: Scientific American Library.
  ISBN 978-0716750444
  .
• Galston, Arthur W.; Shurr, Emily G., eds. (2001). New Dimensions in Bioethics Science, Ethics and the Formulation of Public Policy. Boston, MA: Springer US.
  ISBN 978-1-4615-1591-3
  .
• Galston, Arthur W. (2005). Expanding Horizons in Bioethics. New York: Springer.
  ISBN 978-1402030611
  .