Robert Almer Harper papers

Robert Almer Harper, widely known botanist, was born in Le Claire, Iowa, on January 21, 1862. He received a B.A. (1886) and an M.A. (1891) degree from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. from the University of Bonn, Germany in 1896. Harper taught at Gates College (1886-1888), Lake Forest (Ill.) Academy (1889-1891), and Lake Forest University (1891-1898). He was professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin from 1898 to 1911 and from 1911-1930 he was Torrey Professor of Botany at Columbia University.

While chief of the board of scientific directors of the New York Botanical Garden in the 1920s, Harper conducted a series of experiments to find better methods of treating diseased plants. He wrote widely and belonged to many scientific organizations, among them the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the Botanical Society of America. Harper died on May 12, 1946, in Bedford, Virginia, at the age of eighty-four.