Alexander H. Smith
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hanchett Smith (December 12, 1904 – December 12, 1986) was an American mycologist known for his extensive contributions to the taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 and phylogeny of the higher fungi, especially the agarics
Agaricales
The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms , or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13000 described species, along with five extinct genera known only from the fossil record...

.

Early life

Smith, born in Crandon, Wisconsin
Crandon, Wisconsin
Crandon is a city in Forest County, Wisconsin, United States; it is in the northeastern part of the state, about north of Green Bay. The population was 1,920 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Forest County and is the only incorporated community in the county...

, was the second child of Ruth M. and Edward A. Schmidt, who later changed their name to Smith. After the death of his mother in his teens, Smith and family moved to West De Pere, Wisconsin, to live with their paternal grandparents.

Education

Smith graduated from high school in West De Pere in 1923. A year later, he entered Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1928. He applied for a fellowship at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 and began graduate studies in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 in the fall of 1928 with the eminent mycologist Calvin H. Kauffman as his advisor. Kauffman died before Smith completed his degree, so he continued his studies under professor E.B. Mains, eventually earning his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1929 and his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in 1933. His doctoral dissertation was entitled "Investigations of Two-spored Forms in the Genus Mycena", which was later published as a journal article.

Career

In 1934 he was appointed Assistant Curator in the Herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...

 of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, where he was to spend his entire professional career. He was appointed Director of the Herbarium in 1959 and served in this capacity until 1972. In 1968, he served as Deputy Director of the Biological Station
University of Michigan Biological Station
The University of Michigan Biological Station is a research and teaching facility operated by the University of Michigan. It is located on the south shore of Douglas Lake in Cheboygan County, Michigan. The station consists of 10,000 acres of land near Pellston, Michigan in the northern Lower...

. Smith married fellow graduate student Helen Vendler Smith, who received her Ph.D. in botany at the University of Michigan. They would work together later, she co-authoring and illustrating some of his publications. Daughter Nancy, born in 1943, would accompany her parents on mycological expeditions and forays. Following in her parent's footsteps, she also completed a doctorate at the University of Michigan, in mycology.

Smith was President of the Mycological Society of America
Mycological Society of America
The Mycological Society of America is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932...

, and from 1945 to 1950 served as editor of the scientific journal Mycologia
Mycologia
Mycologia is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers on all aspects of the fungi, including lichens. It first appeared as a bimonthly journal in January of 1909, published by the New York Botanical Garden under the editorship of William Murrill. It became the official journal of...

in 1950. He was President of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, the Michigan Academy (1966–67), the Michigan Botanical Club, the Torrey Botanical Club
Torrey Botanical Society
Torrey Botanical Society was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas...

, and the Research Club of the University of Michigan in 1974–75.

Smith taught formal courses at the University in Ann Arbor in addition to summer field courses at the University of Michigan Biological Station
University of Michigan Biological Station
The University of Michigan Biological Station is a research and teaching facility operated by the University of Michigan. It is located on the south shore of Douglas Lake in Cheboygan County, Michigan. The station consists of 10,000 acres of land near Pellston, Michigan in the northern Lower...

 at Douglas Lake, Michigan. Additionally, he supervised 9 Ph.D. graduate students, some of whom, such as Harry D. Thiers and Orson K. Miller
Orson K. Miller, Jr.
Orson Knapp Miller, Jr., born December 19, 1930, died June 9, 2006, is an American mycologist. He has published numerous papers in mycology and is responsible for the naming of many taxa, as well as being one of the authors erecting the genus Chroogomphus:...

, would become recognized mycologists in their own right.
During the course of fifty-seven years of field work, Smith accumulated over 100,000 collections of fungal samples, and an extensive library of photographs. Today these are located in the University of Michigan Herbarium.

High standards

Smith maintained high scientific standards in his publications; he once wrote

I personally feel that as mycologists we can never arrive at truly accurate generic concepts and correct names for them unless the pertinent facts are accurately stated. It is next to impossible to avoid bias in taxonomic work, but information should be "slanted" as little as possible.
Other contemporary authors that did not meet these standards would often suffer censure by Smith in book reviews or articles. For example, in a book review about a then-recent publication on wood-decay fungi, he writes:

In a work of this type the author should have recognized his duty to give his readers and users the best of modern classifications and nomenclature. In this respect he failed completely. ...The agaric part of the work is full of contradictions based on the author's failure to consider work of the last 30 years."
Later he writes

Perhaps the best that can be said for the work editorially is that fortunately there is very little introductory material to confuse the reader."


In another article, commenting about "the current low degree of accuracy developing in the literature on hallucinogenic mushrooms generally", Smith points out numerous errors in two current publications, such as ambiguously written text, mistakes in citations, lack of scientific rigor in presenting arguments, unreliability of data due to inadequate sampling procedures, and inadequate searches of available literature. Interestingly, Smith would soon collaborate with one of these authors in a publication the next year.

Publications

Smith published nearly 200 articles and books about fungi, including many books as monographs or various genera of higher fungi. He also wrote for the casual mushroom enthusiast; in particular, his field guide The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide garnered several excellent reviews and sold over 100,000 copies.

Popular books
  • Common edible and poisonous mushrooms of southeastern Michigan. (1938)

  • Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats. (1950?)
  • Puffballs and their allies in Michigan. (1951)
  • The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide. (1958, 1963)

  • Keys to genera of higher fungi. (1964, with R.L. Shaffer)
  • How to Know the Non-Gilled Fleshy Fungi. (1973, 1981, with Helen and Nancy Smith)

  • A field guide to western mushrooms. (1975)
  • How to Know the Gilled Fungi. (1979, with Helen and Nancy Smith)
  • The veiled species of Hebeloma in the western United States. (1984. with Vera Stucky Evenson and Duane H. Mitchel)
  • A field guide to southern mushrooms. (1985, with Helen Smith)


Monographs
  • North American species of Mycena. (1947)
  • North American species of Hygrophorus. (1963, with L.R. Hesler
    Lexemuel Ray Hesler
    -External links:* Finding Aid for the Lexemuel Ray Hesler Collection, 1899-1982...

    )
  • A monograph on the genus Galerina Earle. (1964, with R. Singer)

  • Contribution toward a monograph of North American species of Suillus. (1964, with H.D. Thiers)
  • North American species of Crepidotus. (1965, with Hesler)
  • The North American species of Pholiota. (1968, with Hesler)
  • The boletes of Michigan. (1971, with H.D. Thiers)
  • The North American species of Psathyrella. (1972)

  • North American species of Lactarius. (1979, with Hesler)
  • The veiled species of Hebeloma in the western United States. (1985, with V.S. Evenson and D. H. Mitchel)


Selected journal articles

Honors and awards

  • 1967 – North American Mycological Association
    North American Mycological Association
    The North American Mycological Association , is a non-profit organization of amateurs and professionals who are interested in fungi, including mushrooms, morels, truffles, molds, and related organisms...

     award for contributions to amateur mycology
  • 1969 – Certificate of Merit – Botanical Society of America
    Botanical Society of America
    The Botanical Society of America represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world...

  • 1982 – "Distinguished Mycologist" – Mycological Society of America
    Mycological Society of America
    The Mycological Society of America is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932...


External links

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