Biography

American mycologist and phytopathologist. Born and raised on a farm near Avilla, Indiana, Whetzel expressed an interest in nature from boyhood, collecting plants and insects along his five-mile walk to school each day. He graduated from Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana) in 1902, having had to take some time out due to trouble with his eyes. As a student he had been quickly recognised by his professor, Mason B. Thomas, as having exceptional potential as a botanist and he was immediately employed as a botanical assistant at Cornell University after graduating. He stayed at Cornell for four years, carrying out fieldwork in Ithaca collecting fungi with G.H. Atkinson and C.H. Kauffman, before being appointed assistant professor and head of the department of botany at the newly formed New York State College of Agriculture (part of Cornell University). He served here for 25 years (as department head until 1922), having requested that his title and department change from 'botany' to 'plant pathology' in 1907. This lent him the distinction of founding the first department of plant pathology in the U.S., and he was promoted to professor of plant pathology in 1908. While he never completed his master's degree or doctorate, he was awarded honorary versions from Wabash (MA 1906, DSc 1931) and the University of Puerto Rico (DSc 1926).

Whetzel was one of the founding members of the American Phytopathological Society (1909) and served as its president in 1915 and editor of its journal, Phytopathology, for two years. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Mycological Society of America in 1931, of which he was president in 1939. Frustrated by the lack of funding for investigating plant diseases in New York State, he started up 'industrial fellowships', seeking salaries for researchers directly from the growers and businesses who might benefit from the work. He was extremely successful in procuring funds in this way, at the same time directing his graduate students' research and carrying out his own. He resigned his post as department head in 1922 in order to devote his time to teaching and research. He focused his attention on the genus Sclerotinia, publishing the first in a series of monographic studies in 1926 and later proposing (unsuccessfully) a new family, Sclerotinaceae.

Whetzel was well known for his enthusiastic fieldwork. He collected in Puerto Rico with E.W. Olive in 1916, with F.D. Kern in 1924 and with C.E. Chardón in 1931. He spent 1921-1922 on sabbatical in Bermuda, finding time to collect fungi while acting as plant pathologist for the Bermuda Department of Agriculture. He returned to the island in 1926, making collections with F.J. Seaver and the Scottish botanist Lawrence Ogilvie. His final trip was made in 1939, to Venezuela, where he worked with Albert S. Müller and Chardón once more.

Whetzel married his first wife in 1904 only to lose her in 1912 to a mystery illness, leaving behind their two daughters. He married again in 1914, outliving his second wife by some five years, though he did not live to enjoy many years of old age, dying before he was 70 years old. He was remembered as a friendly and well-liked professor.

Sources:
Anon., 1945, Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, 46(542): 46
H.M. Fitzpatrick, 1945, "Herbert Hice Whetzel", Mycologia, 37(4): 393-413
A.G. Newhall, 1980, "Herbert Hice Whetzel: Pioneer American Plant Pathologist", Annual Review of Phytopathology, 18: 27-36.

Biography

American mycologist and phytopathologist. Born and raised on a farm near Avilla, Indiana, Whetzel expressed an interest in nature from boyhood, collecting plants and insects along his five-mile walk to school each day. He graduated from Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana) in 1902, having had to take some time out due to trouble with his eyes. As a student he had been quickly recognised by his professor, Mason B. Thomas, as having exceptional potential as a botanist and he was immediately employed as a botanical assistant at Cornell University after graduating. He stayed at Cornell for four years, carrying out fieldwork in Ithaca collecting fungi with G.H. Atkinson and C.H. Kauffman, before being appointed assistant professor and head of the department of botany at the newly formed New York State College of Agriculture (part of Cornell University). He served here for 25 years (as department head until 1922), having requested that his title and department change from 'botany' to 'plant pathology' in 1907. This lent him the distinction of founding the first department of plant pathology in the U.S., and he was promoted to professor of plant pathology in 1908. While he never completed his master's degree or doctorate, he was awarded honorary versions from Wabash (MA 1906, DSc 1931) and the University of Puerto Rico (DSc 1926).

Whetzel was one of the founding members of the American Phytopathological Society (1909) and served as its president in 1915 and editor of its journal, Phytopathology, for two years. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Mycological Society of America in 1931, of which he was president in 1939. Frustrated by the lack of funding for investigating plant diseases in New York State, he started up 'industrial fellowships', seeking salaries for researchers directly from the growers and businesses who might benefit from the work. He was extremely successful in procuring funds in this way, at the same time directing his graduate students' research and carrying out his own. He resigned his post as department head in 1922 in order to devote his time to teaching and research. He focused his attention on the genus Sclerotinia, publishing the first in a series of monographic studies in 1926 and later proposing (unsuccessfully) a new family, Sclerotinaceae.

Whetzel was well known for his enthusiastic fieldwork. He collected in Puerto Rico with E.W. Olive in 1916, with F.D. Kern in 1924 and with C.E. Chardón in 1931. He spent 1921-1922 on sabbatical in Bermuda, finding time to collect fungi while acting as plant pathologist for the Bermuda Department of Agriculture. He returned to the island in 1926, making collections with F.J. Seaver and the Scottish botanist Lawrence Ogilvie. His final trip was made in 1939, to Venezuela, where he worked with Albert S. Müller and Chardón once more.

Whetzel married his first wife in 1904 only to lose her in 1912 to a mystery illness, leaving behind their two daughters. He married again in 1914, outliving his second wife by some five years, though he did not live to enjoy many years of old age, dying before he was 70 years old. He was remembered as a friendly and well-liked professor.

Sources:
Anon., 1945, Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, 46(542): 46
H.M. Fitzpatrick, 1945, "Herbert Hice Whetzel", Mycologia, 37(4): 393-413
A.G. Newhall, 1980, "Herbert Hice Whetzel: Pioneer American Plant Pathologist", Annual Review of Phytopathology, 18: 27-36.