William A. Setchell 1864 - 1943. Personal Background  Born in Norwich, Connecticut on April 15, 1864  His father was a prisoner of the Confederate army.

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1 William A. Setchell 1864 - 1943

2 Personal Background  Born in Norwich, Connecticut on April 15, 1864  His father was a prisoner of the Confederate army at the time of his birth  He developed an interest in natural history and botany early on  Attended Norwich Free Academy during his prep school years  Entered Yale University in 1883, and graduated ninth in a class of 175 in June of 1887  In the fall of 1887 he began graduate studies at Harvard where he studied with W. G. Farlow and received his PhD in 1890  His thesis studied kelps (Laminariales) and concentrated on the life history of Saccorhiza dermatodea  Married Clara B. Caldwell in 1920 at the age of 56. She died in 1934 following an unsuccessful breast cancer surgery  Though he retired in 1934, he continued to travel and work until his death in 1943

3 Fascicle collection  In 1889, with F. S. Collins and Isaac Holden, they issued a series of fascicles of dried specimens of N. American freshwater and marine algae  Initial intent was for each to prepare 50 uniform specimens of each collection  A total of 80 copies of each fascicle was produced  The first fascicle, Phycotheca borealiamericana was sent to subscribers in 1895

4 Career  Setchell began teaching in 1890 at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale as an Assistant in Biology  Became Assistant Professor of Botany and continued to teach until 1895  Moved to Berkeley, CA and became head of the Department of Botany at the University of California  Retired from the University of California as Professor Emeritus in 1934

5 Research Interests  Floristics (Pacific coast of N. America, S. Pacific, Hong Kong)  Taxonomy of algae, fungi and a few angiosperms  Parasitism of angiosperms and red algae  Genetics (Nicotania)  Biogeography (kelps, Zostera)  Ethnobotany of algae and tobacco  His research on the influence of temperature on algal distribution is still cited today  First to emphasize the role of macroalgae in coral reef formation

6 Expeditions  1899 - First collecting expedition to Alaska, then a journey around the world  1920 - received an invitation from Carnegie Institution of Washington to carry on an investigation in the Samoan Islands –Became interested in the algae in coral reefs  Several more expeditions with his wife to Hawaii, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Africa  Because of his expeditions he made many contributions concerning the paleogeography of the Pacific area

7 Contributions  Under his leadership, the Department of Botany at the University of California achieved world renown  Initiated the series University of California Publications in Botany  Herbarium and Botanical Garden were built largely due to Setchell’s tobacco addiction  With N. L. Gardner, he described over 670 species and taxa in 110 genera, 40 of which were new  Many species were named after him, including Setchelliella (in Cyanophycea), and Setchelliogaster and Setchellia in fungi  Well over 100 publications and several books

8 Contributions, con’t  His class (still available at UC Berkeley on microfilm) inspired many students to pursue careers in botany  He directed several master’s and PhD students  He became an unofficial advisor to many students, whom he referred to as his nieces and nephews, and they called him “Uncle Bill”  Some of his students were E. Y. Dawson and F. Drouet, now famous phycologists

9 Honors and Awards  Member of over 30 scientific societies and organizations, including: –National Academy of Sciences –California and Washington Academy of Sciences –Torrey Botanical Club –Linnean Society of London –Vice President in the Botany section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science –American Academy of Arts and Science  Director of Botanical Garden of California for many years  Member of many honor societies at the University of California

10 William “Uncle Bill” Setchell 1864 - 1943

11 Sources referenced  Http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/setchell.html  http://www.ilmyco.gen.chicago.il.us/Authors/Setchell1143.h tml  Goodspeed, T.H. Essays in geobotany in honor of William Albert Setchell. University of California Press; Berkeley, 1936.