September 11, 2006

Botanist Jean Langenheim honored by Botanical Society of America

By Tim Stephens

The Botanical Society of America (BSA) presented a Centennial Award to Jean Langenheim, professor emerita and research professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC, as part of the BSA's centennial celebration in August.

Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and past president of the BSA, presented the Centennial Award to Jean Langenheim at the Botany 2006 Conference in August. Photo: David Bogler

Langenheim was recognized for her contributions to the advancement of the plant sciences at a special awards ceremony and reception during the BSA's Botany 2006 Conference in Chico, California, on August 2.

An eminent plant ecologist and leading authority on plant resins, Langenheim has served as the president of the Association for Tropical Biology, the Ecological Society of America, the International Society of Chemical Ecology, and the Society for Economic Botany. She has studied plant resins and amber (fossilized resin) for more than 40 years, and her 2003 book Plant Resins (Timber Press) is the authoritative reference book on the subject.

Langenheim joined the UCSC faculty in 1966. She earned her B.S. in biology at the University of Tulsa (TU) and her M.S. and Ph.D. in botany at the University of Minnesota. As an undergraduate, Langenheim was the first female president of the student body at TU, a distinction for which she will be honored this year at TU's homecoming celebration. She was previously recognized as a Distinguished Alumna of TU in 1979.