American professor and mycologist. Elias J. Durand came from Canadaigua, New York, and attended Cornell University, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1893 and a doctorate in 1895. Following his graduation he began to teach botany at the same institution, first as a fellow and later as an instructor, before moving to the University of Missouri where he taught as associate professor of botany between 1910 and 1918. At this time Durand was named professor of botany at the University of Minnesota and he remained there until his death.

Interested in fungi Durand was an authority on the Discomycetes and he collected 12,087 herbarium specimens and 6,000 microscope slides of this group alone. These are now a part of the mycological collection at Cornell University. Durand published numerous bryological papers as well as a student text on laboratory practice in general introductory botany. His papaers include "Studies in North American Discomycetes" (1901) and "The Geoglossaceae or Earth Tongues of North America" (1908).

Sources:
R.B. Harvey, 1923, "Elias Judah Durand", Phytopathology, 13: 408-409
O.E. Jennings, 1923, "Elias Judah Durand", The Bryologist, 16(6): 67
F.A. Stafleu and R.S. Cowan, 1976-1998, Taxonomic Literature, 2nd edition (TL-2), 6: 178-181.