Torrey, George Safford, 1891-1977

Professor of botany, department head, and administrator, at University of Connecticut (formerly Connecticut Agricultural College and Connecticut State College).

From the description of George Safford Torrey papers, 1910-1980. (University of Connecticut). WorldCat record id: 28409199

George Safford Torrey was born 14 March 1891 in Boston, Massachusetts . He graduated from Harvard College in 1913 with a B.A. degree and continued his study in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (1915, M.A. in Botany) and diplome d'Etudes Superieures (Botanique, University of Paris, 1919).

Prior to his employment in Storrs, Torrey had worked at Gray Herbarium (Harvard) and the Department of Agriculture (Newfoundland). Torrey was hired in 1915 as an instructor of Botany at the Connecticut Agricultural College . He received tenure in 1928 and was appointed Head of the Botany Department. Torrey served as the secretary of the Faculty, Registrar and chairman of the Committee on Scholastic Standing, in addition to guest performances on the organ and bassoon at off campus events.

Torrey retired from the University in 1953 but continued to assist in the revision of the Connecticut Catalog of Flowering Plants and Ferns .

G. Safford Torrey died in 1977. Soon after his death, the University of Connecticut named the building housing the Life Sciences departments in his honor.

From the guide to the George Safford Torrey Papers., undated, 1910-1980., (Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Center .)