Margaret Clay Ferguson

Margaret Clay Ferguson
Born	29 August 1863 Orleans, New York, United States of America
Died	28 August 1951 (aged 87) San Diego, California, United States of America
Fields	Botany
Institutions	Wellesley College
Known for	First woman president of the Botanical Society of America
Notable awards	Honorary doctorate from Mount Holyoke

Margaret Clay Ferguson was an American botanist significant for her work on the life histories of North American pines. She was born in Orleans, New York in 1863 and attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York. She attended the Wellesley College where she graduated in botany and chemistry in 1891, receiving her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1901. She later became professor of botany and head of the department at Wellsley College in 1930.^[1]

Ferguson worked on a variety of systems including Fungi, Pine and Petunia. Her study on the latter revealed how plant flower color and pattern do not follow Mendelian laws of inheritance. Ferguson encouraged many women botanists during her time at Wellesley College where lab work was a major of her teaching.^[2]

She died of a heart attack in 1951.

Greenhouses in the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens are named in her honour.

Seasonal Display House in the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses

References

1. ed, Pamela Proffitt, (1999). Notable women scientists. Detroit [u.a.]: Gale Group. ISBN 0787639001.
2. ed, Pamela Proffitt, (1999). Notable women scientists. Detroit [u.a.]: Gale Group. ISBN 0787639001.
3. "Author Query for 'M.C.Ferguson'". International Plant Names Index.