Scott, Flora Murray

Scott was born in Craig, Scotland, on Sept. 6, 1891; BSc, 1914; MA, St. Andrews Univ., 1911; Ph. D, Stanford, 1925; came to US in 1922 and was naturalized in 1935; faculty member at American College for Women at Constantinople (1921) and Stanford (1922-25) before coming a professor at UCLA in 1925; Chairman, Dept. of Botany, UCLA; first president, UCLA Assn. of Academic Women; research focused on physiological plant anatomy; became professor emeritus in 1959; honors include Order of the British Empire (1919), and the UCLA Medal (1980); died in 1984.

Biography

Scott was born in Craig, Scotland, on September 6, 1891; BSc, 1914; MA, St. Andrews University, 1911; Ph.D, Stanford, 1925; came to U.S. in 1922 and was naturalized in 1935; faculty member at American College for Women at Constantinople (1921) and Stanford (1922-25) before coming a professor at UCLA in 1925; Chairman, Department of Botany, UCLA; first president, UCLA Association of Academic Women; research focused on physiological plant anatomy; became professor emeritus in 1959; honors include Order of the British Empire (1919), and the UCLA Medal (1980); died in 1984.

Biographical Narrative

Flora Murray Scott, plant anatomist and professor of botany, was born September 6, 1891, in Craig, Scotland. She received an M.S. (1911) and B.Sc. (1914) from St. Andrews University, Scotland. During World War I she worked in Danger Buildings at Woolrich Royal Arsenal, London, and with Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps in France, services for which she was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1919. Following the war Scott served as Associate Professor in Biology at the American College for Women in Constantinople (1919-1921) and as Instructor in Biology, League of Red Cross Societies, Geneva, Switzerland (1921-1922). Her academic career continued at Stanford University, where she received the Ph.D. in 1925.

Scott joined the faculty at UCLA in 1925 and served as Chair of the Department of Botany, Plant Anatomist in the Agriculture Experiment Station, Assistant Director of the Botanical Garden, member of the Legislative Assembly and many Academic Senate and departmental committees, and founder and first president of the UCLA Association of Faculty Women. Professor Scott's research concerns in biology ranged from fossils to living plants, with her major interest centered on physiological plant anatomy. Her interpretation of plant structure using fresh tissue under the light microscope was complemented with ultrasonic and electron microscope investigations. Scott attained the status of Professor Emeritus in 1959; she died on March 24, 1984, in Los Angeles.

Biography

Flora Murray Scott (1891-1984) was a faculty member at the American College for Women at Constantinople (1921) and Stanford (1922-25) before coming a professor at UCLA in 1925. She served as Chair of the Department of Botany and as the first president of the UCLA Association of Academic Women. Her research focused on physiological plant anatomy. She became professor emeritus in 1959.