Chapman, Royal N. (Royal Norton), 1889-1939

Royal N. Chapman joined the University of Minnesota in 1916 and worked as Division Chief of Entomology and Economic Zoology from 1925 to 1930. In 1930, he became Experiment Station director of the Pineapple Producers Cooperative Association and Dean of the University of Hawaii Graduate School of Tropical Agriculture. He returned to the University of Minnesota as Dean of Graduate School in 1939, but died that same year.

From the description of Papers, 1911-1939. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63291749

Royal N. Chapman, B.A. (1914), M.A. (1915) University of Minnesota, Ph.D. (1917) Cornell University. Noted researcher in the fields of plant diseases and fruit production.

Royal Chapman was born on September 17, 1889 in Morristown, Minnesota. He earned his B.A. (1914) and M.A. (1915) in animal biology from the University of Minnesota. He continued his graduate study at Cornell University as the Schuyler Fellow in Entomology (1915-1916), earning his Ph.D. in 1917.

In 1917, Chapman was named an instructor in animal biology at the University of Minnesota. He was promoted to assistant professor and assistant entomologist with the University Farm (1918-1923), associate professor of animal biology and entomology (1923-1925), and professor and chief of the Division of Entomology and Economic Zoology (1925-1930).

In 1924, Chapman made his first visit to Hawaii as a delegate to the Pan-Pacific Food Conservation Conference. In 1929 he was appointed consultant for the Association of Hawaiian Pineapple Canners and in the 1930 he left the University of Minnesota to become the director of the experiment station of the newly formed Pineapple Producers' Cooperative Association in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1931 he was named dean of the Graduate School of Tropical Agriculture at the University of Hawaii. In July 1939 he returned to the University of Minnesota to succeed Guy Stanton Ford as dean of the Graduate School but served only six months, when after a short illness he died on December 2, 1939.

Chapman was elected president of the Entomological Society of America in 1924 and the Hawaiian Entomological Society in 1932, awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1926, and named among America's Distinguished Men of Science.

From the guide to the Royal Norton Chapman papers, 1911-1939, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc])