Sign in
Margaret Clay Ferguson
Photo: Smithsonian Institution from United States, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons12

Margaret Clay Ferguson

American botanist (1863–1951)

Margaret Clay Ferguson (1863–1951) was an American botanist best known for advancing scientific education in the field of botany. She also contributed on the life histories of North American pines.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Margaret Clay Ferguson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Aug 20, 1863, died Aug 28, 1951.1

Companies

Early life and education

  • 1901Cornell University Doctor of Philosophy3
  • Date not recordedWellesley College3
  • Date not recordedCornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences3

Ferguson was born in Orleans, New York, in 1863 and attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York. Ferguson attended Wellesley College, where she graduated in botany and chemistry in 1891, earning a PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1901.

She was the first female President of the Botanical Society of America in 1929.

From Wikipedia’s article on Margaret Clay Ferguson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: scientific collector, botanist, botanical collector.6

Ferguson became the first female President of the Botanical Society of America in 1929 and began working as a professor of botany and head of the department at Wellesley College in 1930. She collected botany specimens with her niece Alice Maria Ottley.

Ferguson studied a variety of systems including Fungi, Pine and Petunia. Her study on the latter revealed how plant flower color and pattern do not follow Mendelian laws of inheritance. Ferguson encouraged many women botanists during her time at Wellesley College, where lab work was a major part of her teaching.

In 1931, Susan Minns donated funds to Wellesley College to support Ferguson in her research. In 1932, Ferguson retired from Wellesley College, though she continued researching until 1938. She received an Honorary doctorate from Mount Holyoke.

Greenhouses in the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens are named in her honor.

From Wikipedia’s article on Margaret Clay Ferguson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornAug 20, 1863, Orleans7
  • DiedAug 28, 1951, San Diego8
  • CitizenshipUnited States9

In her later years, Ferguson spent time in Florida before moving to San Diego, where she died of a heart attack in 1951.

From Wikipedia’s article on Margaret Clay Ferguson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • Date not recordedhonorary degree10

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12