Rogers McVaugh

Rogers McVaugh
Born (1909-05-30)May 30, 1909
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died September 24, 2009(2009-09-24) (aged 100)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
Alma mater Swarthmore College
University of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
Fields Botany

Rogers McVaugh (May 30, 1909 – September 24, 2009)[1] was a research professor of botany and the UNC Herbarium's curator of Mexican plants. He was also Adjunct Research Scientist of the Hunt Institute in Carnegie Mellon University and a Professor Emeritus of botany in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.[1] The plant genus Mcvaughia was named in his honor in 1979.[2]

Biography

Born in New York City, Rogers McVaugh was a brilliant student. He earned the bachelor's degree with highest honors in botany from Swarthmore College in 1931 and a Ph.D in botany from the University of Pennsylvania in 1935.[1]

McVaugh's first published paper is Recent Changes in the Composition of a Local Flora, published in 1935. His final publication was Marcus E. Jones in Mexico, 1892, published in 2005.[1]

Writings

McVaugh's last, partially completed work was the Flora Novo-Galiciana, a multi-volume work focusing on the diverse flora of a region in western Mexico. In 1984, he was awarded the Botanical Society of America’s Henry Allan Gleason Award for his work on this project.[1]

McVaugh published about 12 books and 200 shorter articles in history of botany, floristics and systematic botany, including Recent Changes in the Composition of a Local Flora . Among his contributions was a biography of the 19th-century naturalist Edward Palmer.[3]

Family

In 1937 Rogers McVaugh married Ruth Beall, who died in 1987. His two children are Michael Rogers McVaugh and Jenifer Beall McVaugh.[1]

Centenary & death

On May 30, 2009 he celebrated his 100th birthday.[4] He died, aged 100, on September 24, 2009.

Career

  • 1935-1938: Instructor then Asst. Professor, Botany, University of Georgia, Athens
  • 1938-1946: Associate Botanist, Division of plant exploration & introduction, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • 1946-1951: Associate Professor, Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • 1951-1974: Professor, Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • 1955-1956: Program Director for Systematic Biology, National Science Foundation, 1974-1979: Harley Harris Bartlett Professor of Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • 1946-1979: Curator of Vascular Plants, University of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor
  • 1972—1975: Director, University of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor
  • 1979–present: Professor Emeritus, Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • 1980–present: Research Professor of Botany, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • 1981–present: Adjunct Research Scientist, Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

Honors

  • International Association for Plant Taxonomy: Vice-President 1969-1972, President 1972-1975
  • Festschrift in Taxon, 1979
  • Botanical Society of America-Merit Award, 1977
  • Sociedad Botánica de Mexico- Gold Medal 1978
  • New York Botanical Garden- Henry Allan Gleason award 1984, for Flora Novo-Galiciana vol. 14 (1983)
  • American Society of Plant Taxonomists—First Annual Asa Gray award, 1984
  • University of Guadalajara, Mexico— First Luz María Villarreal de Puga Medal, 1993
  • International Botanical Congress, St. Louis, USA – Millennium Medal, 1999 (one of eight worldwide)
  • Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. – First Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany, 2001
  • Botanical Society of America - Centennial Award, 2006

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Herbarium.UNC
  2. ↑ https://www.lsa.umich.edu/herb/malpigh/MALPpdf/Tx28-McVaughia.pdf
  3. ↑ McVaugh, Rogers. 1956. Edward Palmer: Plant Explorer of the American West. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
  4. ↑ The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Botanist, Herbarium Curator turns 100
  5. ↑ IPNI.  McVaugh.
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