Robert Earle Buchanan Explained
Robert Earle Buchanan (March 27, 1883, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – 1973, Ames, Iowa) was an American bacteriologist and a professor and administrator at Iowa State University.[1] He is known for his work on bacterial taxonomy.
Biography
Buchanan grew up on a farm.[2] He graduated in 1904 with a B.S. and in 1906 with an M.S. from Iowa State College[3] (now named Iowa State University). He worked as an undergraduate as a student assistant to Louis Hermann Pammel, whom he accompanied on botanical surveys. He was from 1904 to 1906 as teaching assistant in bacteriology under Pammel.[1] In 1908 Buchanan received his Ph.D. in bacteriology from the University of Chicago.[1] His doctoral dissertation The Morphology of Bacillus Radicicola,[4] written under the supervision of Edwin O. Jordan, deals with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in the nodules of a variety of legume species.[1] At Iowa State College, Buchanan was from 1908 to 1909 an associate professor and was appointed in 1909 a full professor.[3] He founded in 1910 the college's department of bacteriology and headed the department until his retirement in 1948.[2] Two important bacteriologists in the early history of the department are Max Levine (1889–1967) and Chester Hamlin Werkman (1893–1962) (who was Buchanan's doctoral student).[1] Buchanan was the dean of Iowa State's Graduate College from 1919 to 1948[2] and director of the Iowa Agriculture Experiment Station from 1933 to 1945.[1]
Buchanan was elected in 1913 a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[5] In 1918 he was the president of the Society of American Bacteriologists (renamed in 1960 the American Society for Microbiology).[1] In 1935 he was the president of the Iowa Academy of Science.[3]
He married Estelle Denis Fogel in 1910.[3] Their son Joseph Hall Buchanan became a patent attorney and a brigadier-general.
Selected publications
Articles
- 30084296. Buchanan . R. E. . Life Phases in a Bacterial Culture . The Journal of Infectious Diseases . 1918 . 23 . 2 . 109–125 . 10.1086/infdis/23.2.109 .
- 10.1128/jb.2.2.155-164.1917. Studies in the Nomenclature and Classification of the Bacteria Ii. The Primary Subdivisions of the Schizomycetes . 1917 . Buchanan . R. E. . Journal of Bacteriology . 2 . 2 . 155–164 . 16558735 . 378699 .
- 10.1128/jb.5.3.191-229.1920. The Families and Genera of the Bacteria Final Report of the Committee of the Society of American Bacteriologists on Characterization and Classification of Bacterial Types . 1920 . Winslow . C.-E. A. . Broadhurst . Jean . Buchanan . R. E. . Krumwiede . Charles . Rogers . L. A. . Smith . G. H. . Journal of Bacteriology . 5 . 3 . 191–229 . 16558872 . 378870 .
- 10.1085/jgp.6.1.77. Studies on Toxicity . 1923 . Fulmer . Ellis I. . Buchanan . R. E. . Journal of General Physiology . 6 . 1 . 77–89 . 19872053 . 2140618 .
- 10.1146/annurev.mi.09.100155.000245. Taxonomy . 1955 . Buchanan . R. E. . Annual Review of Microbiology . 9 . 1–20 . 13259458 .
- 10.1086/404936. History and Development of the American Type Culture Collection . 1966 . Buchanan . R. E. . The Quarterly Review of Biology . 41 . 2 . 101–104 . 5946752 . 32609060 .
Books
References
- 2579024 . 1999 . Singleton Jr. . Rivers . Robert Earle Buchanan: An unappreciated scientist . The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine . 72 . 5 . 329–339 . 11049164 .
- Skerman, V. B. D.. Robert Earle Buchanan 1883-1974. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology. October 1973. 23. 4. 291–294. 10.1099/00207713-23-4-291. free.
- Book: Cattell, Jaques. American Men of Science: A Biographical Dictionary. 327. 1949. The Science Press. Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- Book: Buchanan, Robert Earle. The Morphology of Bacillus Radicicola. 1908. University of Chicago.
- Web site: Historic Fellows. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
