Education
Harvard University; Miami University.
Botanist paleontologist university professor
Harvard University; Miami University.
Barghoorn is best known for discovering in South African rocks fossil evidence of life that is at least 3.4 billion years old. These fossils show that life was present on Earth comparatively soon after the Late Heavy Bombardment (about 38 billion years ago). Barghoorn was born in New York City.
After graduating from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in biology, Barghoorn obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in paleobotany from the Harvard University, faculty of Biological Sciences, in 1941.
After teaching for five years at Amherst College, he joined the Harvard faculty, becoming Fisher Professor of Natural History and Curator of the University"s plant fossils collections. Barghoorn married Margaret Alden MaCleod in 1941, Teresa Joan LaCroix, and Dorothy Dellmer Osgood in 1964.
The first two marriages ended in divorce.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.