Citizenship American | Name Helen Hart | |
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Born September 2, 1900
Janesville, Wisconsin ( 1900-09-02 ) Died May 2, 1971(1971-05-02) (aged 70)
Grants Pass, Oregon Alma mater University of Minnesota Known for president of the American Phytopathological Society | ||
Helen Hart (September 2, 1900 – May 2, 1971) was an American plant pathologist, and professor at the University of Minnesota.
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Early life and education
Hart was born in Janesville, Wisconsin to Richard Johnson Hart and Alice Hart. She studied at Lawrence College. In 1920, Hart transferred to University of Minnesota where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in botany in 1922.
Career
In the summer of 1922, after facing initial discouragement from Elvin C. Stakman, chair of the Department of Plant Pathology, Hart began to work towards her master's degree as a laboratory assistant at the university farm. Hart focused her master's research on flax rust, specifically the environmental influences on the life cycle of the fungus that causes it. She earned her master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1924, after which she began work as a part-time instructor in the Department of Plant Pathology. For the next four years, Hart performed research focused on how the structure of wheat plant tissues relates to the morphology of the stem rust pathogen. She was awarded her Ph.D. in 1929.
In 1933, Helen Hart became a full-time instructor. She became a full-time professor in 1947 and Professor Emeritus in 1966. Hart's research was instrumental in making the University of Minnesota Department of Plant Pathology a world-leader in stem rust.
In 1955, Hart became the first woman president of the American Phytopathological Society. She was also elected as a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 1965.
She died in 1971 at Grants Pass, Oregon.