Arthur, Joseph Charles, 1850-1942

Joseph Charles Arthur received a B.S. (1872) in botany and was a member of the first graduating class of 1872 at the Iowa Agricultural College (Iowa State University). He also earned the first M.S. in Botany, the first one conferred. He received his Sc. D (1886) in Plant Pathology from Cornell University. Arthur studied at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, before becoming an Instructor (1879-1881) at the University of Wisconsin; Instructor (1882) at the University of Minnesota; and botanist (1884-1886) at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York. He was then invited to form and head the Department of Botany (1887-1915) at Purdue University. Arthur devoted his career to studying plant rust fungi, and wrote several books and manuals, as well as founded the herbarium at Purdue. He served as president of the following scientific societies: the Indiana Academy of Science, the American Phytopathological Society, and the Botanical Society of America.

Joseph Charles Arthur received a B.S. (1872) in botany and was a member of the first graduating class of 1872 at the Iowa Agricultural College (Iowa State University). He also earned the first M.S. in Botany, the first one conferred. He received his Sc.D (1886) in Plant Pathology from Cornell University. Arthur studied at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, before becoming an Instructor (1879-1881) at the University of Wisconsin; Instructor (1882) at the University of Minnesota; and botanist (1884-1886) at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York. He was then invited to form and head the Department of Botany (1887-1915) at Purdue University. Arthur devoted his career to studying plant rust fungi, and wrote several books and manuals, as well as founded the herbarium at Purdue. He served as president of the following scientific societies: the Indiana Academy of Science, the American Phytopathological Society, and the Botanical Society of America.

Dr. Joseph C. Arthur, world renowned botanist and educator, was born in Lowville, New York, on January 11, 1850. Arthur graduated from Iowa Agricultural College (Iowa State University) with a B.S. in botany in 1872 and received his M.S. degree in botany from Iowa in 1877. He went on to receive his doctorate (Sc.D.) in plant pathology and mycology from Cornell University in 1886. Arthur became an Instructor at the University of Wisconsin in 1879, and in 1882 he became an Instructor at the University of Minnesota. He wrote a famous book on plant dissection and served as botanist at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, from 1884-1886. In 1887, Arthur joined Purdue University as a Professor of Botany, and under his leadership the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology was formed at Purdue. Arthur was the first botanist of Purdue's Agricultural Experiment Station. He devoted the majority of his career to the study of plant rust fungi, writing numerous articles and several books on the subject. Selected works include The plant rusts (1929) and Manual of the rusts in the United States and Canada (1934). Considered by some to be the "Dean of American Plant Pathologists," Arthur won international recognition for his discoveries in plant rusts and his many other botanical achievements. He was an outstanding contributor to the knowledge of plant diseases. Of special importance was his discovery of the use of formaldehyde as a fungicide, particularly for treating oats smut and potato scab. Arthur retired from Purdue in 1915, and was subsequently named Emeritus Professor of Botany. Several institutions awarded honorary degrees to Arthur, including the University of Iowa (1916), Iowa State College (1920), and Purdue University (1931). Arthur was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a charter member and president of the Indiana Academy of Science (president, 1893), a two-time president of the Botanical Society of America (1902; 1910), and president of the American Phytopathological Society (1933). He died on April 30, 1942, in Brook, Indiana, at 92 years of age.

Joseph Arthur was the owner of an iron forge in Shenandoah County, Virginia.