Plant Science Bulletin 60(1) 2014 botanical educators, the situation was changing by the 1950s. During this period, Neil Stevens and Harriett Creighton were the only chairs of the Teaching Section or Education Committee (Creighton served as both) also to be elected President of the Society. In the 1970s Bill Jensen would serve as chair of the Teaching Section and President of the Society. Sydney Greenfield was the spearhead of a change in this pattern that continues today. He was not a leading botanist in the traditional sense, but he was a leading figure in the Society’s Education programs during the transition to the second half-century. The specialization of botany educators will be a focus of the final part of this series.
the structure of education in the Society, founding the Teaching Section, the Education Committee, and the Plant Science Bulletin in quick succession. Botany, along with the other sciences, rode the incoming tide of national concern and support for improving science and technology education in the 1950s and 60s and this resulted in a flurry of activities coincident with the 50th anniversary of the Society. A striking aspect of the first 50 years was the role of preeminent botanists in leading botanical education. Apparently this was not unique to the BSA during the first half of the 20th century when all of the life science societies were growing. The mycologist, and future BSA President (1946), Neil Stevens related a story about the American Society of Agronomy meeting in 1942. The dinner speaker had several times repeated the remark that teaching ability was not rewarded as well as research ability in our colleges. After this had gone on several times, Dr. H.K. Hayes of Minnesota interrupted saying that, in fact, teaching ability in that field was recognized and rewarded, and that he could present proof. The discussion went on, but eventually Dr. Hayes was asked for his proof. Stevens reported that his reply was this: “I have objective proof. It is here in this room. I do not wish to embarrass anyone so I will not name individuals unless someone insists, but I see here a goodly number of individuals of recognized standing and influence in their fields whose positions rest on their recognized ability as teachers rather than as investigators.” That ended the discussion. Stevens was in full agreement with Hayes. He went on to state that, “A list of Presidents of the Botanical Society of America will serve… one finds a large percentage of those who are known first and foremost as teachers” (Stevens, 1944a). It is also interesting that in 1943 Stevens sent out a survey to 1700 members of the BSA and the American Society of Agronomy in which he asked them to rate the characteristics of the teachers who were most influential in their careers. The 1100 respondents named more than 400 individual teachers, but Charles Bessey was “in a class by himself ” (Stevens, 1944b, p. 323). It was not surprising to learn that Bessey did his best teaching in the laboratory. However, I was surprised to learn that Coulter “rarely went into the laboratory.” This reinforces the concept that there is no one best way for everyone to teach.
Literature Cited AAAS [AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE]. 1925. Botanical sciences at the Washington meeting. Science 61: 264–268. AIBS [AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES]. 1955. Meeting Program, pp. 54–56. AIBS. [AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES]. 1972. The AIBS Story. Washington, D.C.: The Institute. ANDERSON, EDGAR. 1952. Plants, man and life. Berkeley: University of California Press. APPEL, TOBY A. 1988. Organizing biology: The American Society of Naturalists and its “Affiliated Societies”, 1883–1923. In Ronald Rainger, Keith R. Benson, and Jane Maienschein [eds.], The American Development of Biology. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ARTHUR, JOSEPH C., CHARLES R. BARNES, and JOHN M. COULTER. 1893 [1886]. Handbook of plant dissection. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ATKINSON, GEORGE F. 1898. Elementary botany. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ATKINSON, GEORGE F. 1900. Lessons in botany. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ATKINSON, GEORGE F. 1901. First studies of plant life. Boston: Ginn and Company. ATKINSON, GEORGE F. 1905 [1898]. Elementary botany. 3rd ed., enlarged and revised. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
While it was true of the early years that many of the most prominent botanists also were leading 55