Eckerson, Sophia H. (d. 1954)

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Eckerson, Sophia H. (d. 1954)

American microchemist, botanist, and plant physiologist. Born Sophia Hennion Eckerson in Tappan, New Jersey; died July 19, 1954, in Pleasant Valley, Connecticut; dau. of Albert Bogert Eckerson and Ann Hennion Eckerson; Smith College, AB, 1905, AM, 1907; University of Chicago, PhD, 1911.

Greatly influenced by Smith professor and mentor William Francis Ganong, served as assistant plant physiologist at University of Chicago (1911–15), then as an instructor (1916–20); worked at the Bureau of Plant Industry (1919–22) and at Cereals Division (1921–22) of the USDA in Washington, DC; served as a charter member of, and employed as a plant microchemist at, Boyce Thompson Institute in NY (1923–40); served as chair of Botanical Society of America's Physiological Section (1935–36); retired (1940); recognized with a star in the publication American Men of Science (6th ed.) as one of the 1,000 best scientists in America.

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