Bernard Ogilvie Dodge records

Bernard Ogilvie Dodge (1872-1960) was a mycologist whose study of the common bread mold Neurospora significantly advanced the science of genetics and biochemical genetics in the twentieth century. Dodge was born 18 April 1872 in Mauston, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin (1909) and Ph.D. in botany and physics at Columbia University (1912) where he was a research fellow in field botany. He continued at Columbia as Instructor in Botany until 1920 when he joined the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC as a plant pathologist. His early studies of reproduction in microscopic fungi of the family Ascobolaceae, fungal parasites of fruit, and rusts of trees led in important findings in the development of plant disease control.

In 1928 the New York Botanical Garden appointed Dodge plant pathologist, a position which he retained until his retirement in 1947. During this time he was also a consultant in mycology for the Presbyterian Hospital and a lecturer in dermatology for the College of Physicians and Surgeons, both in New York City. Dr. Dodge continued as plant pathologist emeritus and consultant in mycology until 1957. While his official duties involved the control of plant diseases and insect pests, he assiduously pursued research on Neurospora, often on his own time and with limited resources.

Dodge began systematic investigation into the life history, cytology, and genetics of microscopic molds in the genus Neurospora (formerly Monilia) in 1927 on which he published 42 scientific papers. He identified three species (N. crassa, N. sitophila, and N. tetrasperma) and demonstrated regularities in the Mendelian nature of inheritance in this fungus that made it a critical tool in many research applications. Dodge’s findings on Neurospora and his association with George Beadle and Edward Tatum led to the latter receiving the Nobel Prize in 1958 for demonstrating the role of genes in biochemical processes. Dodge also discovered that the ascospores of Neurospora would germinate after being heated, and he developed techniques of crossing this organism to establish the ascospores in culture, important for studies of mutation.

Dodge published 162 scientific papers; with Harold W. Rickett he published Diseases and Pests of Ornamental Plants (1943). He served as associate editor of Mycologia (1923-32), editor (1932-40) of the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club and vice-president (1934) and president (1935) of the Mycological Society of America. He was convener of the section on fungi and fungus diseases of the 3rd International Microbiological Congress (1939) and vice-president of the 7th International Botanical Congress in Stockholm (1950). His participation in scientific and botanical organizations included National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an honorary membership of the British Mycological Society. The NYBG presented Dodge its Distinguished Service award in 1951. He died in New York City 9 August 1960.