Otis Freeman Curtis

Otis Freeman Curtis (12 February 1888, Sendai, Japan – 4 July 1949, Cape Cod, Massachusetts)[1] was an American botanist and plant physiologist, at the State Agricultural Experimental Station, and professor of botany at Cornell University.[2]: 66  He made important contributions to the study of translocation.[2]: 66 

His parents were in Japan because his father, a Congregational minister, was working as a missionary. He graduated in 1911 with A.B. from Oberlin College and, influenced by Susan Percival Nichol, focused on botany. He was a graduate student at Cornell University from 1911. In 1916 he was awarded a Ph.D. from Cornell University. There he was an instructor in plant physiology from 1913 to 1917, an assistant professor from 1917 to 1922, and a full professor from 1922 until his death.[1] Among his doctoral students was Thomas Wyatt Turner, the first Black American to receive a PhD in botany.

He was recognised for his expertise on translocation[3] and published around 30 papers about vegetative reproduction, translocation, temperature and water relations of plants. He was the author of the monograph The Translocation of Solutes in Plants[4] in 1935 that, through critical review, encouraged further research in this area.[3] He also posthumously co-authored An Introduction to Plant Physiology[5][6] with D. G. Clark.

Upon his death he was survived by his widow, two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Otis Freeman Curtis: 1888-1949". Plant Physiology. 24 (4): vi–x. 1949. doi:10.1104/pp.24.4.vi. ISSN 0032-0889. PMC 437407. PMID 16654265.
  2. ^ a b Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435
  3. ^ a b W, EB (1936). "The Translocation of Solutes in Plants". Nature. 137 (3474): 888. Bibcode:1936Natur.137..888E. doi:10.1038/137888a0. S2CID 6652495.
  4. ^ Curtis, Otis F. he Translocation of Solutes in Plants: a Critical Consideration of Evidence bearing upon Solute Movement. McGraw-Hill. p. 273.
  5. ^ Curtis, Otis F; Clarke, D F (1950). An Introduction to Plant Physiology. McGraw-Hill. p. 752.
  6. ^ Nason, Alvin (1951). "New Biological Books Reviews and Brief Notices An Introduction to Plant Physiology. Otis F. Curtis , Daniel G. Clark". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 26 (4): 397. doi:10.1086/398466. Retrieved 7 July 2020.