Background
Charles E. Bessey was born on May 21, 1845, on a farm in Milton Township, Wayne County, Ohio, the son of Adna Bessey, a schoolteacher of Huguenot ancestry, and Margaret Ellenberger.
Michigan State University, 220 Trowbridge Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States
In July 1866 Charles Bessey entered Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University), where he came under the influence of Albert Nelson Prentiss and William James Beal, two botanists noted for their teaching skills. He graduated from the scientific course in 1869.
Michigan State University, 220 Trowbridge Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States
In July 1866 Charles Bessey entered Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University), where he came under the influence of Albert Nelson Prentiss and William James Beal, two botanists noted for their teaching skills. He graduated from the scientific course in 1869.
Harvard University, Cambridge, Массачусетс 02138, United States
Charles Bessey also studied at Harvard University under Asa Gray, in 1872 and in 1875 - 1876.
Nebraska State Capitol, 1445 K Street Lincoln, Nebraska United States
The bust of Charles Edwin Bessey at the Nebraska Hall of Fame.
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005, United States
Charles Bessey served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1911.
Charles E. Bessey was born on May 21, 1845, on a farm in Milton Township, Wayne County, Ohio, the son of Adna Bessey, a schoolteacher of Huguenot ancestry, and Margaret Ellenberger.
In July 1866 Bessey entered Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University), where he came under the influence of Albert Nelson Prentiss and William James Beal, two botanists noted for their teaching skills. He graduated from the scientific course in 1869.
Bessey also studied at Harvard University under Asa Gray, in 1872 and in 1875 - 1876.
Charles Bessey came to the Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in 1870, the year after the college opened. He was hired to teach horticulture, botany, and zoology. Apparently, his first botany students were required to collect and identify plants; these collections were the beginning of the Iowa State Herbarium. By 1872, Bessey had become professor of botany and zoology. During his tenure, the herbarium grew to nearly 15,000 specimens. In addition to the herbarium, Doctor Bessey also saw the need for laboratory study of botany. Up until this time, undergraduate study was limited to the library, lecture hall, and field. He started the first "botanical laboratory" in the United States for undergraduate study, and the laboratory included the use of microscopes. In 1884, while Bessey was serving as vice-president of the college, a disagreement arose between him and the state legislature.
In 1884, Bessey accepted the chair of botany at the University of Nebraska (now University of Nebraska–Lincoln), which he held until 1915. There he developed the experimental study of plant morphology that the recently founded university immediately became one of the nation’s outstanding centres for botanical research.
In 1901, Charles Bessey became head dean at the University of Nebraska (now University of Nebraska–Lincoln). He also served as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska (now University of Nebraska–Lincoln) from 1888 to 1891 and again from 1899 to 1900. Charles Edwin Bessey died on February 25, 1915, in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States.
On December 25, 1873, Charles Edwin Bessey married Lucy Athearn of West Tisbury, Massachusetts, by whom he had three sons.