Nelson, Aven
1859 - 1952
Albany County
Biographical and Professional Information
Dr. Aven Nelson was born on March 24, 1859 on a farm in Iowa. He came to the University of Wyoming, Laramie City, Wyoming Territory, in 1887, where he was the first of five faculty members on campus. He would be the first librarian for the University and teach economic botany, zoology, animal physiology, hygiene, physical geography, and calisthenics. In 1891, the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station was established and he became station botanist, a position he held until 1941. During this time he wrote or contributed to multiple Experiment Station Bulletins. In 1893, he founded the Rocky Mountain Herbarium. The collection was officially designated the Rocky Mountain Herbarium by the Board of Trustees of the University of Wyoming in 1899. The "New Manual of the Botany of the Central Rocky Mountains (Vascular Plants)" with John M. Coulter as senior author but completely rewritten by Nelson was published in 1909. It became the standard authority on the regional plants.
In 1917, Dr. Nelson was named acting president, then president (1918) of the University of Wyoming, a position he held until 1922. As a professor of botany at the University, Dr. Nelson wrote many articles, publications and books. He also named many plants. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science in 1927. At the age of 80 (1939), "Dr. Nelson and his wife Ruth botanized Mount McKinley National Park." In 1942, he became curator emeritus of the herbarium. He died in Colorado Springs, Colorado on March 31, 1952.
Genres
Nonfiction
Wyoming Subjects
Titles
Links
Aven Nelson
Book Review of Aven Nelson of Wyoming. Roger L. Williams, 1984
University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Former Faculty Member
A&S Outstanding Former Faculty Member