Lester W. Sharp

Who was Lester W. Sharp?

Lester Whyland Sharp was an American botanist, a pioneer in cytogenetics.

He received a BS from Alma College in 1908. After two years at The Johns Hopkins University, he transferred to the University of Chicago where he received his PhD in 1912. His postdoctoral work was in association with the University of Louvain, Belgium. Subsequently, he was with Cornell University until his retirement as professor emeritus of botany in 1947.

He authored two classical textbooks in cytology: An Introduction to Cytology and Fundamentals of cytology

He was vice-president of the American Society of Naturalists in 1924, vice-president of the Botanical Society of America in 1929 and president in 1930. He served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Botany, Stain Technology and the Botanical Review. He was awarded an honorary DSc by Alma College in 1930 and by the University of Louvain in Belgium in 1957.

In 1958 he received the Botanical Society of America Merit Award. The nomination from the Cornell University said: "His contributions, both by personal investigations and by successive editions of carefully edited textbooks, have made plant cytology a significant field of Botany."