Calvin Henry Kauffman

Background

Calvin Henry Kauffman was born on March 10, 1869, on a farm in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of John Henry and Mary Ann (Light) Kauffman. His early life was spent on the farm.

Education

Kauffman received the preparatory training at the country schools. He attended Palatinate College, Myerstown, Pennsylvania, 1890-1892, and from that institution went to Harvard University, where he graduated in 1896 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, having specialized in Greek and Latin. In the fall of 1901 he entered the University of Wisconsin, specializing in chemistry and botany. At this institution his interest in mycology was definitely aroused through the influence of Professor R. A. Harper. His mycological studies were continued, 1902-1904, at Cornell University, where he served as a graduate assistant to Professor G. F. Atkinson. Atkinson not only stimulated and developed Kauffman's interest in the mushrooms or Agaricaceae but exercised a marked influence on his entire scientific career. He carried on his graduate studies at the University of Michigan. He received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from this institution in 1907, submitting a dissertation entitled "A Contribution to the Physiology of the Saprolegniaceae with Special Reference to the Variations of the Sexual Organs. " The direction of his career was now firmly established.

Career

From 1896 to 1898 Kauffman was principal of a preparatory school at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and then taught science in a high school at Decatur, Indiana, and at Bushnell Normal College, Bushnell, Illinois. In 1904 he joined the University of Michigan as instructor in the botanical department. During the succeeding years he developed courses and directed research with the lower plants, including the mosses and algae, with the fungi always as his primary interest. He became assistant professor in 1911 and associate professor in 1919. From 1912 to 1921 he was curator of the Cryptogamic Herbarium and in the latter year was made director of the University Herbarium. From 1923 until his death he was professor of botany. The period of the World War (1917 - 1919) saw him stationed in Washington, D. C. , on leave of absence, as pathological inspector with the Federal Horticultural Board of the United States Department of Agriculture.

In 1918 Kauffman published his work The Agaricaceae of Michigan, issued in two volumes. He also published monographic studies of various genera of the Agaricaceae, including Cortinarius, Inocybe, Lepiota, Clitocybe, Armillaria, Flammula, and Paxillus. His work on the Agaricaceae reflects not only the early influence of Atkinson but also that of Elias Fries, of whom he was a profound admirer. A period of study in the Fries herbarium at Upsala, Sweden, and field work in the surrounding region in 1908 intensified this influence. His researches, however, were by no means confined to the mushrooms, but included papers on other groups--the Phycomycetes, Thelephoraceae, and Polyporaceae in particular--as well as a series of mycological floras of the several regions of the United States in which he carried on summer field work. Among these may be noted an extensive series of reports on the fungi of Michigan, and others covering his field studies in Tennessee, Kentucky, Colorado, the Siskiyou Mountain region of Oregon, Mount Hood, and the North Elba region of New York. He also contributed a number of publications in the field of plant pathology.

Achievements

• Kauffman was well-known chiefly as a specialist in the study of fungi. During his professional career, Kauffman published approximately forty papers of major importance. One of his most valuable contributions to science was his work "The Agaricaceae of Michigan"(1918). It was not only a scholarly and original treatise on the mushrooms of Michigan but served as a standard reference for the species described.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Agaricaceae of Michigan, Vol. 2: Plates (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Agaricaceae of Michigan, Vol. 2: Plates ...)

  • The Agaricaceae of Michigan, Vol. 1: Text (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Agaricaceae of Michigan, Vol. 1: Text ...)

  • The gilled mushrooms (Agaricaceae) of Michigan and the Great Lakes region

Connections

In September 1895 Kauffman married Elizabeth Catherine Wolf.

Father:

John Henry Kauffman

Mother:

Mary Ann (Light) Kauffman

Spouse:

Elizabeth Catherine Wolf