Roland Thaxter
| Roland Thaxter | |
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| Born | August 28, 1858 |
| Died | April 22, 1932 (aged 73) |
Roland Thaxter (August 28, 1858 – April 22, 1932) was an American mycologist, plant pathologist, botanist, and entomologist, renowned for his contribution to the insect parasitic fungi—Laboulbeniales. His college education was completed at Harvard, where he dedicated forty years to mycological and botanical research. His five-volume series on fungi in the order Laboulbeniales laid a solid foundation of research on these insect ectoparasites. He also contributed to the field of Plant Pathology.
Roland Thaxter was born in Newtonville, Massachusetts, 1858, the third and youngest child in the family. His parents were Levi Thaxter and Celia Thaxter. He married Mabel Gray Thaxter in 1887. Thaxter’s personality was influenced greatly by his literary family. His father was a lawyer and an authority who brought the works of the poet Robert Browning to the American public. His mother, Celia Thaxter, was a distinguished poet, most well-known for her book “An Island Garden”. In addition to this literary background, Roland was inspired by nature in his youth, fostering in him an unusual aesthetic sensibility that he brought to his scientific works.
Roland Thaxter entered Harvard in 1878 and completed an A.B. degree in 1882. In 1883, he attended the Harvard Medical School for doctoral study in medicine. One year later, a two-year Harris Fellowship led him to leave the Medical School and join the Graduate School of Art and Science, a turning point in Thaxter’s career. He conducted studies of Cryptogamic Botany under William Gilson Farlow. Farlow was an important mentor to Thaxter in both his scientific work and his private life.
He pursued a doctoral degree and served as a research assistant under Farlow from 1886 to 1888. During this period, Thaxter published an important Gymnosporangium paper, “On Certain Cultures of Gymnosporangium with Notes on their Roesteliae”, in which he described relationships between Gymnosporangium and Roestelia species. In 1888, Thaxter received the degrees of M.A. and Ph.D., with his thesis monographing “The Entomophthoreae of the United States”. From 1888 to 1891, he took a position as the first plant pathologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He set up a third department in the Station and named it “Mycology”. During his brief time at the Station, his research led to valuable discoveries in Phytopathology. He described the pathogen of potato scab, Oospora scabies, the mildew of lima beans (Phytophthora phaseoli), the onion smut (Urocystis cepulae), and pioneered the use of fungicide sprays to control fungal diseases.
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