Aven Nelson
{{short description|U.S. botanist and a founding professor of the University of Wyoming (1859–1952)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Aven Nelson
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Aven Nelson.jpg
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| caption = Nelson circa 1909
| birth_date = 24 March 1859
| birth_place = Lee County, Iowa
| death_date ={{death date and age|1952|3|31|1859|3|24|df=y}}
| death_place =Colorado Springs, Colorado
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| fields = Botany
| workplaces = University of Wyoming
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| alma_mater = University of Denver
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| known_for = President, University of Wyoming
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| author_abbrev_bot = A.Nelson,
A.Nels.
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| spouse = Celia Alice Calhoun (1860-1929)
Ruth E. Ashton (1896-1987)
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Aven Nelson (March 24, 1859 – March 31, 1952) was an American botanist who specialized in plants of the Rocky Mountains. He was one of the founding professors of the University of Wyoming, where he taught for 55 years as professor and served as president (1918-1922). He served as president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and Botanical Society of America.{{cite web
|url = http://wyomingauthors.pbworks.com/w/page/12626681/Aven%20Nelson
|title = Aven Nelson, Biographical and Professional Information
|publisher = American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming
|access-date = January 5, 2016
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160127080024/http://wyomingauthors.pbworks.com/w/page/12626681/Aven%20Nelson
|archive-date = 2016-01-27
|url-status = dead
|url = https://storify.com/Cavalryman/aven-nelson
|title = Aven Nelson, Founding Member of UW, Botanist
|publisher = storify.com
|access-date = January 5, 2016
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160127071103/https://storify.com/Cavalryman/aven-nelson
|archive-date = 2016-01-27
|url-status = dead
}}
Biography
Nelson was born at Sugar Creek, in Lee County, Iowa to parents Christen Nelson and Anne (Evenson) Nelson, who had immigrated from Norway. Aven was the youngest of four children in a Quaker family. He attended Kirksville State Normal School in Kirksville, Missouri from which he was graduated in 1883 with his Bachelor of Arts degree, while in 1887 he received the M. S. D. degree. He further continued his education in Drury College at Springfield, Missouri, which conferred upon him a Master of Science degree in 1890. He next entered Harvard University was awarded the Master of Arts degree in 1892.
In 1893, he co-founded the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.{{cite web
|url= http://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/distinguished-leaders/aven-nelson.html
|title= Aven Nelson, UW Professor & President
|publisher= University of Wyoming
|access-date= January 5, 2016
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151228082118/https://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/distinguished-leaders/aven-nelson.html
|archive-date= December 28, 2015
|url-status= dead
|url=http://www.rmh.uwyo.edu/about.php
|title=About the Rocky Mountain Herbarium
|publisher=University of Wyoming
|access-date=January 5, 2016
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112543/http://www.rmh.uwyo.edu/about.php
|archive-date=March 4, 2016
}}
At that time he started to curate and edit large duplicate series of herbarium specimens with printed labels and fixed titles, among others Plants of Wyoming. From the Rocky Mountain Herbarium and Plants of Yellowstone National Park. From the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.{{cite web |title=Plants of Wyoming. From the Rocky Mountain Herbarium: IndExs ExsiccataID=2147199831 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=2147199831 |access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite web |title=Plants of Yellowstone National Park. From the Rocky Mountain Herbarium: IndExs ExsiccataID=2147199832 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=2147199832 |access-date=4 October 2024}} These large and widely distributed collections are sometimes confused with exsiccata works.
He came to the University of Wyoming in 1887. In 1901, he was made fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1904, the University of Denver conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.{{cite book|first=Ichabod Sargent|last= Bartlett|contribution=Professor Aven Nelson|title=History of Wyoming|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6aA-AAAAYAAJ&pg=588|year=1918|publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company|pages=588–589}} In 1917, Nelson was named acting president, then president (1918) of the University of Wyoming, a position he held until 1922. In 1934, he was elected president of the Botanical Society of America. In 1927, he co-founded the
Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science. In 1935, he became president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.
|url=http://www.rmh.uwyo.edu/about/avennelson.php
|title=Chronology of the life of Dr. Aven Nelson
|publisher=University of Wyoming
|author=Charlotte Goodding Reeder
|date=1969
|access-date=January 5, 2016
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126120622/http://www.rmh.uwyo.edu/about/avennelson.php
|archive-date=January 26, 2016
|url= http://www.cowyas.org/about.html
|title= About The Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science
|publisher= Colorado Wyoming Academy of Science.
|access-date= January 5, 2016
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160126213352/http://www.cowyas.org/about.html
|archive-date= January 26, 2016
|url-status= dead
}}
Personal life
In 1885, he married Celia Alice Calhoun (1860-1929). They were the parents of two children. In 1931, he married fellow botanist Ruth Elizabeth Ashton (1896-1987) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/aven-nelson-botanist-and-president-university-wyoming|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111205922/https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/aven-nelson-botanist-and-president-university-wyoming|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-01-11|title=Aven Nelson, Botanist and President of the University of Wyoming {{!}} WyoHistory.org|date=2020-01-11|access-date=2020-03-03}} He died in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1952. The Aven Nelson Memorial Building on the campus of the University of Wyoming is named in his honor.{{cite web
|url= http://www.uwyo.edu/udss/building-accessibility-guide/aven-nelson-building.html
|title= Aven Nelson Building
|publisher= University of Wyoming
|access-date= January 5, 2016}}
Selected works
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011457084 First report on the flora of Wyoming] (1896)
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011470983 The Trees of Wyoming and How to Know Them] (1899)
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100425985 The Red Desert of Wyoming and its forage resources] (1898) {{cite book|title=Library of Congress Catalog #|lccn=agr09000261}}
- [https://archive.org/details/jstor-2556603 The Flora of Montana] (1900)
- The Cryptogams of Wyoming. A Preliminary Report upon those Species (1900) {{ASIN|B00088QIUU}}
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011471002 The Brome-Grasses of Wyoming] (1901)
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012173653 An Analytical Key to Some of the Common Flowering Plants of the Rocky Mountain Region] (1902)
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011482207 Shade tree suggestions] (1903)
- Spring Flora of the Intermountain States (1912) {{ol|14173707M}} {{LCCN|12014157}}
Note
{{Botanist2|A.Nelson|A.Nels.|border=0}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Other sources
- Knobloch, Frieda E. (2005) Botanical Companions: a Memoir of Plants and Place (University of Iowa Press) {{ISBN|9781587294525}}
- {{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Roger L.|author-link=Roger Lawrence Williams|title=Aven Nelson of Wyoming|date=1984|publisher=(Colorado Associated University Press)|isbn=0870811479}}
- {{Source-attribution|{{cite book|first=Ichabod Sargent|last= Bartlett|contribution=Professor Aven Nelson|title=History of Wyoming|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6aA-AAAAYAAJ&pg=588|year=1918|publisher=(S. J. Clarke Publishing Company)|pages=588–589}}}}
External links
- {{Internet Archive author|sname=Aven Nelson|sopt=t}}
{{Presidents of the Botanical Society of America|state=collapsed}}
{{University of Wyoming presidents}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Aven}}
Category:Presidents of the University of Wyoming
Category:University of Wyoming faculty
Category:Drury University alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:University of Denver alumni
Category:American people of Norwegian descent
Category:People from Lee County, Iowa
Category:19th-century American botanists