Willis Linn Jepson
Encyclopedia
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's most distinguished early botanist. He became interested 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...
as a boy and explored adjacent regions. He had come in contact with various botanists before he entered college. He graduated from the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
in 1889, and the following year became an assistant in botany.
From 1895 to 1898 Jepson served as instructor, and carried on research at Berkeley, Cornell
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
(1895) and Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1896-97), and received his Ph.D. degree at University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1899. He was made assistant professor in 1899, associate professor in 1911, professor in 1918, and professor emeritus in 1937. Thus, his entire career was identified with the University of California.
Willis Linn Jepson was 25 years old in 1892, when he, John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
and Warren Olney
Warren Olney
Warren Olney was an American lawyer, environmentalist, and politician. He was a founding member of the Sierra Club, and served as 34th Mayor of Oakland, California from 1903 to 1905.-Early life:...
, at an attorney's office in San Francisco, formed the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
. During his lifetime, Jepson wrote at least 11 books, two of which were on California's trees, including A Flora of California (1909), The Trees of California (1909) and A Manual of the Flowering Plants of California (1925). He was a Professor of Botany at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
for four decades. Many honors came to him during his long, productive lifetime. His specimens, extensive archives and fieldbooks are housed in the University and Jepson Herbaria
University and Jepson Herbaria
The University and Jepson Herbaria are two separate herbaria at the University of California, Berkeley. These botanical natural history museums are located on the ground floor of the Valley Life Sciences Building on the main campus of the university in Berkeley, California...
libraries and archives. Most of his specimens from California have been databased and form a multi-institutional Consortium of California Herbaria database.
Honors and achievements
- His colleagues honored him with the Faculty Research Lectureship in 1934
- He was president of the California Botanical Society, 1913-15
- 1918-29 fellow of the California Academy of SciencesCalifornia Academy of SciencesThe California Academy of Sciences is among the largest museums of natural history in the world. The academy began in 1853 as a learned society and still carries out a large amount of original research, with exhibits and education becoming significant endeavors of the museum during the twentieth...
, American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, Royal Society of ArtsRoyal Society of ArtsThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
, and American Geographical SocietyAmerican Geographical SocietyThe American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world... - Delegate to the International Agricultural Congress at Liége (1906), the International Botanical Congresses at Cambridge (1930) and Amsterdam (1935)
- Foreign member of the Société Linnéenne de Lyon and the National Botanical Society of Czechoslovakia
- Councilor of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic GardenRancho Santa Ana Botanic GardenThe Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in Claremont, California, in the United States, just south of the San Gabriel foothills. The garden, at , is a non-profit organization dedicated to California native plants...
- Life member of the American Genetic AssociationAmerican Genetic AssociationThe American Genetic Association , formerly the American Breeders' Association, founded 1903, is a USA-based learned society dedicated to the study of genetics. It publishes the Journal of Heredity-History:...
; and member of the American Society of Plant TaxonomistsAmerican Society of Plant TaxonomistsThe American Society of Plant Taxonomists is a botanical organization formed in 1935 to "foster, encourage, and promote education and research in the field of plant taxonomy, to include those areas and fields of study that contribute to and bear upon taxonomy and herbaria", according to its bylaws...
, Botanical Society of AmericaBotanical Society of AmericaThe Botanical Society of America represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world...
, Society of Foresters, Washington Academy of Sciences, Western Society of NaturalistsWestern Society of NaturalistsThe Western Society of Naturalists is a scientific organization with a strong focus on promoting the study of marine biology. Most of its members are on the Pacific coast of North America. Originally established in 1910 as the Biological Society of the Pacific, it changed its name in 1916...
, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma XiSigma XiSigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...
. - The SaxifragaceaeSaxifragaceaeSaxifragaceae is a plant family with about 460 known species in 36 genera. In Europe there are 12 genera.The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic...
genus JepsoniaJepsoniaJepsonia is a small genus of flowering plants containing three species. The Jepsonia is a perennial with a cormlike caudex, toothed leaves, and a cyme inflorescence that blooms in the fall...
and host of commemorative specific plants are named after him. - The Jepson Herbarium at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
is named for him. - The Jepson ManualThe Jepson ManualThe Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California is a collection of identification keys to help biologists identify the vascular plants within the state of California...
: Higher Plants of California is named in his honor. - A middle school is named after him, in Vacaville, CaliforniaVacaville, CaliforniaVacaville, California is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Solano County. The city is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately from Sacramento, and from San Francisco...
.