Background
Duncan was born in Buffalo, New York, on October 15, 1910.
Duncan was born in Buffalo, New York, on October 15, 1910.
He received his bachelor"s and master"s degrees, in 1932 and 1933, from Indiana University, then his Doctor of Philosophy in botany from Duke University in 1938.
Duncan also authored several books on plant species of the Eastern and Southeastern United States. He then began a forty-year period in the faculty at the University of Georgia. As Curator of the UGA Herbarium, he increased the collection size from 16,000 to 135,000 specimens.
He personally collected over thirty thousand specimens, which he shared with herbaria across the country.
During World World War II, Duncan served in the United States Public Health Service, in which he earned the rank of Major. His duties during this period included directing mosquito control for Charleston, South Carolina and serving as state entomologist for Kentucky.
Duncan was married for 64 years (from 1941 until his death) to botanist Marion Bennett Duncan, with whom he collaborated on several books, including Duncan is the botanical authority who first described three plant species: Quercus oglethorpensis, Trillium persistens, and Baptisia arachnifera. All of these species are endangered.
H. H. H. F. A. Foote X. H. 75.