Wiggins, Ira L. (Ira Loren), 1899-1987

Ira Loren Wiggins (1899-1987) was born on January 1, 1899, in Madison, Wisconsin. He attended Occidental College of Los Angeles with the intent of becoming a Presbyterian minister, but his interests changed to botanical research. He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1922 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. That following year he worked at a farm in Shasta County and gained high school teaching credentials. He taught high school for a year, leaving to study towards a master's degree at Stanford University. From 1925-1927, he was an instructor at Occidental College and then returned to Stanford to receive his PhD. (1930). He was an assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor of botany at Stanford, where he remained until he retired as professor of biology, emeritus, in 1964. Ira had curatorial appointments in the Dudley Herbarium and was director of the Natural History Museum from 1940-1962. He studied and wrote about vegetation in California and the Galapagos. He died on November 28, 1987.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_338_pid_EACP335

After receiving his A.M. (1925) and Ph.D. (1930) in botany from Stanford, Wiggins was appointed professor of biology in 1929 and became emeritus in 1964. He also served as Director of the Natural History Museum and Dudley Herbarium at Stanford. Wiggins is particularly known for his interest in desert and arctic flora.

From the description of Ira L. Wiggins papers, 1926-1985. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122383558

Biography

Ira Loren Wiggins, Emeritus Professor of Biology, former Curator of the Dudley Herbarium and Director of the Natural History Museum, was born on January 1, 1899. He received his A.B. degree from Occidental College in 1922, his A.M. from Stanford in 1925, and His Ph.D. in botany from Stanford in 1930. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1929 and became Emeritus Professor of Biology in 1964.

Professor Wiggins was active in a number of organizations in his field. He served as President of the American Fern Society, the California Botanical Society, the California Academy of Sciences, and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Arctic Society of America and Editor of the American Fern Journal. He served as Scientific Director of the Arctic Research Laboratory at Point Barrow, Alaska and conducted botanical field research in Baja California under the auspices of the Belvedere Scientific Fund. His publications include over 100 papers dealing with systematic botany and plant ecology. His book A Flora of the Alaskan Arctic Slope, written in conjunction with John Hunter Thomas, Asst. Curator of the Dudley Herbarium and lecturer in biology at Stanford, was published by the University of Toronto Press in 1962.

From the guide to the Ira L. Wiggins Papers, 1926-1985, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)