Robert Folger Thorne
| Robert Folger Thorne | |
|---|---|
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| Born | July 13, 1920 Spring Lake, New Jersey |
| Died | March 24, 2015 (aged 94) California |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont Graduate University |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
| Notable awards | Asa Gray Award |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Thorne |
Dr. Robert F. Thorne (July 13, 1920 – March 24, 2015) was an American botanist. He was Taxonomist and Curator Emeritus at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Professor Emeritus at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. His research has contributed to the understanding of the evolution of flowering plants.
Thorne was born on July 13, 1920 at Spring Lake, New Jersey. He was educated through high school in Gulfport and St. Petersburg, Florida. He graduated summa cum laude in 1941 with a major in botany from Dartmouth College and earned his M.S. degree in Economic Botany in 1942 at Cornell University. He spend about three years serving in the armed forces during World War II, first at Hondo Navigation School, Texas, graduating as a 2nd Lieutenant in Aerial Navigation in 1943. Then, after 7 months in Italy in 1944 as a B-24 bomber navigator with 40 missions over eastern and southern Europe, he served as an instructor and as an examinations officer at Ellington Field, Texas, from 1944 to 1945.
After serving in the armed forces, he earned his Ph.D. in Economic Botany at Cornell University in 1949, studying under professors Walter Muenscher and Arthur Eames. While at Cornell, he met and married Mae Zukel in 1947. Bob Thorne died on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, at the age of 94.
Dr. Thorne was the Assistant Professor of Botany at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, from 1949 to 1953, Associate Professor from 1954 to 1960, and Professor from 1961 to 1962. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota, Lake Itasca Biological Station in the summer of 1962 before moving to California, where he became Taxonomist and Curator for Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Professor for Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University) in Claremont, California. He became Taxonomist and Curator Emeritus as well as Professor Emeritus at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate School in 1987. He also became Curator Emeritus of the Pomona College Herbarium in Claremont, California from 1990 to the present.
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