William Russel Dudley

Background

William Russel Dudley was born on March 1 at Guilford, Connecticut, United States. He was the son of Samuel William and Lucy (Chittenden) Dudley.

Education

In early youth Dudley became interested in the out-of-doors, especially in plants and birds, and when it came time to go to college he decided to be a botanist and chose Cornell, because at that time this newly founded university offered better facilities in science than did Yale. A letter of introduction brought him in contact with David Starr Jordan, who, although still an undergraduate, was instructor in botany in charge of the laboratory work.

In 1874 he was granted the degree of Bachelor of Science and two years later that of Master of Science.

Career

Dudley became the collector of plants for Jordan’s class, and the two together, as Dr. Jordan says in his Days of a Man, “roamed over all the hills and to all the waterfalls within thirty miles of Ithaca. ” On these tramps they began a catalogue of the Cayuga Lake region, which was later completed and published by Dudley.

In his junior year he was given the instructorship in botany, which had been left vacant by the graduation of Jordan. In the same year, 1876, he was promoted to assistant professor, a position he held until 1892 when he was called to Stanford University as professor of systematic botany. While at Cornell he was granted a year’s leave of absence in 1880 to become acting professor of biology at the University of Indiana, a chair held by Jordan, who was away on leave. Again in 1887 he was granted leave to study abroad at the universities of Berlin and Strassburg. Stanford University was beginning its second year when Dudley became a member of the faculty, and he entered with enthusiasm into building up his department and especially the botanical collections in the new institution.

As a student of trees he became interested in the conservation of the forests and was frequently called upon by the United States forester, Gifford Pinchot, for botanical information and advice in the early development of the national forests in California. He was an active and influential member of the Sempervirens Club, the pioneer organization interested in the preservation of the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and was instrumental in the establishment of the California Redwood Park, the first public preserve of the redwood. He was appointed on the park commission by the governor of California, and served as secretary of the commission for several years.

Achievements

• Dudley’s most important contribution to science was the collection of the extensive herbarium to which he devoted so much time, labor, and money. All these collections were presented by him to Stanford and form the nucleus of the university’s botanical collections, which have been named the Dudley Herbarium, a lasting and growing monument in his honor.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Genus Phyllospadix (1893)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

Personality

Dudley was a born teacher of rare quality; his quiet, dignified, courteous manner, his thoroughness and enthusiasm in his work, formed lasting impressions upon his students. Although Dudley was a diligent and thorough student, he wrote comparatively little.