William L. Bray, Ph.D. University of Chicago, botanist, plant ecologist, biogeographer and Professor of Botany at Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

, was the first dean of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University

History of the New York State College of Forestry

The New York State College of Forestry, the first professional school of forestry in North America, opened its doors at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, in the autumn of 1898. After just a few years of operation, it was defunded in 1903, by Governor Benjamin B. Odell, in response to public...

, from 1911-12.

In 1907, he was made head of the Botany Department at Syracuse, and in 1908 started teaching a forestry course in the basement of Lyman Hall. Dr. Bray was an associate of Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania...

. In 1911, in addition to assuming the deanship of forestry he organized the Agricultural Division at Syracuse University.

Bray published The Development of the Vegetation of New York State in 1915. The same year, he became one of the founding members—along with Raphael Zon

Raphael Zon

Raphael Zon was a prominent U.S. Forest Service researcher.- Early Life :Raphael Zon was born in Simbirsk in the Russian Empire in 1874, to parents Gabriel Zon and Eugenia Berliner. A classmate of Lenin's, he fled Russia in 1896 while on bail following arrest for organizing a trade union...

 and James W. Toumey

Toumey Woods

Toumey Woods, also called the Toumey Woodlot, is a tract of Beech-maple forest located on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan...

—of the Ecological Society of America

Ecological Society of America

The Ecological Society of America is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States, ESA publishes a suite of publications, from peer-reviewed journals to newsletters, fact sheets and teaching resources. It holds an annual meeting at different locations in the...

. In 1950, the 1917 "activist wing" of that Society formed today's The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....

. Bray remained at Syracuse University until 1943, as Chair of Botany and later as Dean of the Graduate School.