William Trelease

{{short description|American entomologist}}

{{redirect|Trel.|other uses|Trel (disambiguation){{!}}Trel}}

{{Infobox scientist

| honorific_prefix =

| name =

| honorific_suffix =

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date |1857|02|22}}

| birth_place = Mount Vernon, New York

| death_date = {{death date and age |1945|01|01 |1857|02|22}}

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| other_names =

| residence =

| citizenship =

| fields = Botany

| workplaces = Harvard University
University of Wisconsin
Washington University
University of Illinois

| patrons =

| education =

| alma_mater = Cornell University
Harvard University

| thesis_title =

| thesis_url =

| thesis_year =

| doctoral_advisor =

| academic_advisors =

| doctoral_students =

| notable_students =

| known_for =

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards =

| author_abbrev_bot = Trel.

| author_abbrev_zoo =

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

William Trelease (February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1945) was an American botanist, entomologist, explorer, writer and educator. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Trel. when citing a botanical name.{{cite book|last=Brummitt|first=R. K.|author2=C. E. Powell|title=Authors of Plant Names|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|year=1992|isbn=1-84246-085-4}}

Trelease was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He graduated B.S. from Cornell University in 1880 and a D.Sc from Harvard in 1884.{{Cite book |last=Kunkel |first=Louis |url=https://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/trelease-william.pdf |title=William Trelease 1847-1945 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |year=1961 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en}} He was instructor in botany at Harvard University 1880–81, instructor in botany at the University of Wisconsin–Madison 1881–83, and professor of botany there from 1883 to 1885. He was also special lecturer in botany at Johns Hopkins University, and in charge of the summer school of botany at Harvard, during 1883–84. He was Engelmann professor of botany at Washington University in St. Louis from 1885 to 1913, and appointed director of the Missouri Botanical Garden from 1889 to 1912. He was active in various municipal and professional academic associations:Cattell, J. Y., Leaders in education, 1932 he was the first President of the Botanical Society of America in 1894,{{Cite web |url=http://www.botany.org/about_bsa/history.php |title=A Brief History – Botanical Society of America |access-date=2008-03-03 |archive-date=2007-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204143156/http://www.botany.org/about_bsa/history.php |url-status=dead }} and served as president for a second time in 1918.{{Cite web |url=http://www.botany.org/about_bsa/president.php |title=Presidents of the Botanical Society of America |access-date=2008-03-03 |archive-date=2016-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528154713/http://botany.org/about_bsa/president.php |url-status=dead }} In 1903, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1903&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-06-28|website=search.amphilsoc.org}} From 1913 to 1926 he was professor of botany and head of department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Trelease Hall is named after him.

Trelease was amongst the scientists on the two-month expedition to Alaska led by Edward Henry Harriman in 1899.[https://www.pbs.org/harriman/1899/1899_part/participanttrelease.html William Trelease] PBS. Retrieved March 8, 2008. In 1932 he led a botanical expedition to the Canary Isles and Spain, and in 1933 an expedition to New Zealand.American men of science, 5th ed. 1933

Trelease wrote many scientific articles and monographs. His work on the Piperaceae of Northern South America, left unfinished at his death, was completed by his student Truman G. Yuncker.[http://library.nybg.org/finding_guide/archv/yuncker_ppf.html Guide to the Truman G. Yuncker Papers] at the New York Botanical Garden He also wrote several more popular botanical and gardening books, such as [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002001223 Plant materials of decorative gardening] (1917) and [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001494737 Winter Botany] (1918).