| Charles Edwin Bessey | |
| Birth Date: | 21 May 1845 |
| Birth Place: | Milton, Ohio |
| Nationality: | American |
| Field: | botanist |
| Work Institutions: | Iowa Agricultural College |
| Alma Mater: | Michigan State Agricultural College |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Asa Gray |
| Known For: | Bessey system |
| Author Abbrev Bot: | Bessey |
| Prizes: | Nebraska Hall of Fame |
Charles Edwin Bessey (21 May 1845 – 25 February 1915) was an American botanist.
He was born at Milton, Wayne County, Ohio. He graduated in 1869 at the Michigan State Agricultural College. Bessey also studied at Harvard University under Asa Gray, in 1872 and in 1875–76. He was professor of botany at the Iowa Agricultural College, today known as Iowa State University from 1870 to 1884. In 1884, he was appointed professor of botany at the University of Nebraska and became head dean there in 1909. He also served as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska from 1888 to 1891 and again from 1899 to 1900.[1] He served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1911.[2] Bessey's son, Ernst Bessey was Professor of Mycology and Botany at Michigan State University. His other two sons, Edward and Carl, specialized in electrical engineering.
His arrangement of flowering plants taxa, with focus on the evolutionary divergence of primitive forms, is considered by many as the system most likely to form the basis of a modern, comprehensive taxonomy of the plant kingdom.
In 1967, Iowa State University built a Plant Industry Building, which was named after Bessey. Today the building is used by departments in the biological sciences.
In 2007 he was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.