University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Applied Botany and Plant Pathology Section | University of Illinois Archives

Name: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Applied Botany and Plant Pathology Section

Historical Note:

Because of a need for a systematic study of plants and plant diseases in Illinois, the Illinois Natural History Survey established a Botany Section in 1921¹ and appointed Leo R. Tehon the first Botanist.² As Botanist in charge of the Section of Botany from 1921 to 1935,³ Tehon expanded botanical research from general botany to include the fields of mycology, plant pathology and taxonomy.⁴ With this expansion of interest and greater emphasis on the application of research information for the control of plant diseases, the Section of Botany, in 1935, became the Section of Applied Botany and Plant Pathology.⁵ The Natural History Survey employed the first state forester in 1919.⁶

1. Illinois Natural History Survey, Bulletin, 27, December, 1958, p. 148.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Blue Book of the State of Illinois, 1921-1922, p. 312.