Mildred Esther Mathias

Mildred Esther Mathias (1906-1995) was an American botanist.[1][2]

Beginning her college career in the 1920s, Mathias originally had planned to study mathematics. But she instead studied botany, getting her bachelor's, master's degree and PhD at Washington University in St. Louis.[1]

She studied, classified, and led groups to discover plants across the world, from Southeastern Asia to Australia, to South-Central Africa, to the Amazons, to the western United States.[3] She discovered over 100 types of Umbelliferae, or carrots. A genus, the Mathiasella, was named in her honor. She placed a strong emphasis on education for the general public, both directing the UCLA botanical garden (which was renamed the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden in her honor) and hosting a weekly television show on gardening.[1] She published over 100 articles and books about her findings.[3] She promoted conservation in Costa Rica, creating the Organization for Tropical studies, helping with preservation of Costa Rican lands. She also helped to establish the U.S. National Reserve System. She was a professor at UCLA from 1962 until 1974. She also served as president of the American Society for Plant Taxonomists, and the Botanical Society of America.[1]

Awards

  • Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year (1964)
  • Nature Conservancy National Award
  • California Conservation Council Merit Award
  • UCLA Medical Auxiliary Woman of Science Award
  • Merit Award from the Botanical Society of America
  • Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal from the American Horticulture Society
  • Medal of Honor from the Garden Club of America
  • UCLA Emeritus of the Year Award
  • Honorary Fellow of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, 1986

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wayne, Tiffany K (2011). American Woman of Science Since 1900. 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116 1911: ABC CLIO, LCC. pp. 663–664. ISBN 978 1 59884 158 9.
  2. ↑ Folkart, Burt A. (19 February 1995). "Mildred Mathias; Honored UCLA Botanist". L. A. Times.
  3. 1 2 "Mildred E. Mathias: 1993 Distinguished Economic Botanist". New York Botanical Garden Press (48): 1–2. 1994. JSTOR 4255561.
  4. ↑ IPNI.  Mathias.
  • Data related to Mathias at Wikispecies
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