Edward Lee Greene
Edward Lee Greene | |
---|---|
Washington, D.C., United States | |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Landmarks of Botanical History |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Botany |
Author abbrev. (botany) | Greene |
Edward Lee Greene (August 20, 1843–November 10, 1915) was an American
Early life
Edward Lee Greene was born on August 20, 1843, in
Following his release from the Army, Greene returned to Albion Academy, earning his Bachelor of Philosophy in 1866. While in the service, Greene thought of moving west of the Mississippi, a desire he realized in 1870. With the aid of botanists
Between his arrival in 1881 and 1883, Greene began to drift away from the Episcopal Church toward Roman Catholicism, costing him his congregation and his standing within the ministry. Locked out of St. Mark's, Greene gave in to pressure and resigned in 1883, converting to Catholicism only a year later.
Academic career
Beginning in 1882, Greene began lecturing at the University of California. Following his resignation, he became curator of the herbarium at the California Academy of Sciences.
In 1885, was hired as the first professor of botany at the University of California, Berkeley (1885–1895). While he was chair of the newly founded botany department, Greene was one of only three American representatives to the International Committee on Botanical Nomenclature and president of the Madison Botanical Congress.
His controversial advocacy of nomenclature reform brought him into conflict with the president of the university, leading him to accept a position at the
Greene began to focus on the history of his field, publishing his seminal work Landmarks of Botanical History, Part 1 in 1909. The second volume was submitted to the Smithsonian as a work in progress but was never completed, the rough draft being published posthumously in 1936. While at the Smithsonian, Greene renewed contact with Fr. Julius Nieuwland, a professor of botany at the University of Notre Dame and a student from Greene's years at the Catholic University of America. Following the expiration of his agreement with the Smithsonian in 1915, Greene moved to South Bend, Indiana along with his library and herbarium specimens. Greene returned to Washington, D.C., in October that same year to continue work on the Landmarks of Botanical History, Part 2, which would eventually be published posthumously in 1983.
Edward Lee Greene fell ill while in Washington, D.C., and died in Providence Hospital on November 10, 1915.
Legacy
By the end of his career Greene had named over 4,400 new species of plants, published 565 original papers, and amassed a library of over 4,000 volumes, some of which have no duplicates in North America.
Greene's library and collections remain at the University of Notre Dame in the Greene-Nieuwland Herbarium.
Notes
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. March 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-05-13. Retrieved 2009-09-14.)
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References
- Beidleman, Richard G. (2006). "Edward Lee Greene". California's Frontier Naturalists. University of California Press. pp. 376–382. ISBN 9780520927506.
- Jercinovic, Eugene. "Ninety Years After Greene" (PDF). NewMexicoFlores.com.
- Humphrey, Harry Baker (1961). Makers of North American Botany. New York: Ronald Press Company. pp. 99–101.
Further reading
- Greene, Edward Lee & Egerton, Frank N. (1983a). Landmarks of Botanical History: Part 1. Stanford: Stanford University Press. OCLC 174698401.
- Greene, Edward Lee & Egerton, Frank N. (1983b). Landmarks of Botanical History: Part 2. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-1075-6.