Margaret Clay Ferguson

For the political scientist, see Margaret Ferguson (political scientist).

Margaret Clay Ferguson (1863–1951) was an American botanist best known for advancing scientific education in the field of botany.^[1] She also contributed on the life histories of North American pines.

Margaret Clay Ferguson
Born	(1863-08-29)August 29, 1863 Orleans, New York, United States
Died	August 28, 1951(1951-08-28) (aged 87) San Diego, California, United States
Known for	First woman president of the Botanical Society of America
Awards	Honorary doctorate from Mount Holyoke College
Scientific career
Fields	Botany
Institutions	Wellesley College
Author abbrev. (botany)	M.C.Ferguson

Early life and education

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.^[2]

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

Career

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.^[2] She collected botany specimens with her niece Alice Maria Ottley.^[3]

Seasonal Display House in the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses at Wellesley College

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.^[2]

In 1931, Susan Minns donated funds to Wellesley College to support Ferguson in her research.^[4] 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.

Taxonomist

Private life

In her later years, Ferguson spent time in Florida before moving to San Diego, where she died of a heart attack in 1951.^[6]

See also

• Timeline of women in science

References

1. Carey, Jr, Charles W. (February 2000). "Ferguson, Margaret Clay". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
2. Proffitt, Pamela, ed. (1999). Notable women scientists. Detroit [u.a.]: Gale Group. ISBN 0787639001.
3. "Ferguson, Margaret Clay & Ottley, Alice Maria". kiki.huh.harvard.edu. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
4. "Bequests and Gifts". Wellesley College News. June 22, 1931. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
5. International Plant Names Index.  M.C.Ferguson.
6. Shearer, Benjamin F.; Shearer, Barbara S., eds. (1996). Notable women in the life sciences : a biographical dictionary. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. pp. 128–131. ISBN 0313293023.