Rogers McVaugh was a research professor of botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 and the UNC

University of North Carolina

Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...

 Herbarium's curator of Mexican plants. He was also Adjunct Research Scientist of the Hunt Institute in Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

 and a Professor Emeritus of botany in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Biography

Born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Rogers McVaugh was a brilliant student. He earned the bachelor's degree with highest honors in botany from Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....

 in 1931 and a Ph.D in botany from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 1935.

McVaugh's first published paper is Recent Changes in the Composition of a Local Flora, published in 1935. His final publication was Marcus E. Jones in Mexico, 1892, published in 2005.

Writings

McVaugh's last, partially completed, work was the Flora Novo-Galiciana, a multi-volume work focusing on the diverse flora of a region in western Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. In 1984, he was awarded the Botanical Society of America’s Henry Allan Gleason Award for his work on this project.

McVaugh published about 12 books and 200 shorter articles in history of botany, floristics and systematic botany, including Recent Changes in the Composition of a Local Flora http://www.jstor.org/pss/2481090

Family

In 1937 Rogers McVaugh married Ruth Beall, who died in 1987. His two children are Michael Rogers McVaugh and
Jenifer Beall McVaugh.

Centenary & death

On May 30, 2009 he celebrated his 100th birthday. He died, aged 100, on September 24, 2009.

Career

• 1935-1938: Instructor then Asst. Professor, Botany, University of Georgia, Athens
• 1938-1946: Associate Botanist, Division of plant exploration & introduction, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• 1946-1951: Associate Professor, Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• 1951-1974: Professor, Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• 1955-1956: Program Director for Systematic Biology, National Science Foundation, 1974-1979: Harley Harris Bartlett Professor of Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• 1946-1979: Curator of Vascular Plants, University of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor
• 1972—1975: Director, University of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor
• 1979–present: Professor Emeritus, Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• 1980–present: Research Professor of Botany, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 1981–present: Adjunct Research Scientist, Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

Honors

• International Association for Plant Taxonomy: Vice-President 1969-1972, President 1972-1975
• Festschrift in Taxon, 1979
• Botanical Society of America-Merit Award, 1977
• Sociedad Botánica de Mexico- Gold Medal 1978
• New York Botanical Garden- Henry Allan Gleason award 1984, for Flora Novo-Galiciana vol. 14 (1983)
• American Society of Plant Taxonomists—First Annual Asa Gray award, 1984
• University of Guadalajara, Mexico— First Luz María Villarreal de Puga Medal, 1993
• International Botanical Congress, St. Louis, USA – Millennium Medal, 1999 (one of eight worldwide)
• Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. – First Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany, 2001
• Botanical Society of America - Centennial Award, 2006

External links

• Rogers McVaugh "in memoriam"
• University of Michigan Herbarium