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RHODORA, Vol. 118, No. 975, pp. 326331, 2016 Copyright 2016 by the New England Botanical Club
IN MEMORIAM
DAN HENRY NICOLSON (19332016)
A NOMENCLATURE GURU
Dr. Nicolson, a plant nomenclature guru, passed away on June 2, 2016 and the international botanical community lost one of its
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In Memoriam
eminent members. Dan was 82 and was unwell for the last six years due to Alzheimers.
Dan was highly respected for his cheerful outlook, outgoing attitude, dedication to high standards, integrity and friendly ways in which he interacted with his peers. Dans unique personality was his modesty in all walks of life. Dan was admired for his excellence in precise writing and his attention to detail; his nomenclature reviews provided great learning experiences for all. Many botanists from India, upon hearing of his passing, wrote to me stating that they will hold onto Dans mail as botanical treasures. Dans papers on nomenclatural history and orthography have been highly referenced by botanists from around the world.
Dan was born on September 5, 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri. He grew up in Shenandoah, Iowa, where his parents ran the Henry Fields Seed & Nursery Co. In August 1959, Dan married Alice (Ally) Black Crawford (also a botanist), and they went to the Montreal Botanical Congress for their honeymoon. The next year, they left for two years of thesis eld work in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. They had three children, each born in a different country: John in Manila in 1960, Sally in Beirut in 1962, and David in Washington, D.C. in 1964. Dans family of three children has grown, now consisting of eight grandchildren.
Dan had a distinguished botanical career that spanned nearly 60 years. Dan embarked on his botanical career quite young. At age 15, he accompanied his father and a colleague to Europe, and during this trip, they introduced hybrid corn. Dan studied at Grinnell College, Iowa and received his A.B. degree in 1955; his senior thesis was titled, The genus Asclepias in Iowa. In the same year, he published his thesis with his professor, Norman H. Russell, as coauthor. Subsequently, he graduated with a M.B.A. degree from Stanford University in 1957. At Stanford, in spite of his M.B.A. studies, he spent considerable...