| Birth Name: | Chicita Forman |
| Birth Date: | 1 November 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality: | American |
| Fields: | Lichenology |
| Workplaces: | Duke University |
| Alma Mater: | Duke University, University of Wisconsin, University of Cincinnati |
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| Thesis1 Url: | and |
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| Thesis1 Year: | and |
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| Awards: | Acharius Medal |
| Spouse: | Bill Culberson |
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Chicita Frances Culberson (born Chicita Frances Forman, November 1, 1931, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – March 5, 2023, in Durham, North Carolina)[1] was an American lichenologist.
She graduated with a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati in 1953, where she also met her future husband, Bill Culberson.[2] [3] In 1954, she received an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin, and in 1959 she received a Ph.D. from Duke University.
A botanical researcher at Duke University, Culberson pioneered the use of thin-layer chromatography in the identification of secondary lichen products.[4]
In 1992, she became one of the first modern recipients of the Acharius Medal.[5]
In 2000, botanist Theodore Esslinger circumscribed Culbersonia, which is a fungal genus in the family Caliciaceae and named in Bill Culberson and Chicita F. Culberson's honour, his "longtime friends and mentors".[6] [7] At the 9th International Association for Lichenology conference held virtually in Brazil on 4 August 2021, the lichen chemistry symposium was dedicated to Culberson for her 90th birthday.[8] The lichen genus Chicitaea, proposed in 2024, honors Culberson "for her foundational, pioneering and lifelong contributions to the fields of lichen chemistry and lichen taxonomy".
Culberson was married to fellow lichenologist Bill Culberson from 1953,[9] until his death in 2003. Culberson died on March 3, 2023, at Croasdaile Village, a senior adult community in Durham, North Carolina.