William Louis Culberson

{{Short description|American lichenologist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = William Louis Culberson | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = William_Louis_Culberson.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|04|05}} | birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|02|08|1929|04|05}} | death_place = Durham, North Carolina, United States | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | fields = Lichenology | workplaces = Duke University | alma_mater = University of Cincinnati, University of Paris, University of Wisconsin–Madison | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = John Walter Thomson | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | awards = Acharius Medal (1992) | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = | spouse = Chicita F. Forman (m. 1953) | children = }}

'''William Louis "Bill" Culberson''' (April 5, 1929 in Indianapolis, Indiana – February 8, 2003 in Durham, North Carolina) was an American lichenologist.

==Professional history== Culberson earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Cincinnati, where he was influenced by E. Lucy Braun;<ref>[http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben303.html WILLIAM LOUIS CULBERSON (1929-2003)] in BOTANICAL ELECTRONIC NEWS (archived at the University of Oklahoma); by Lewis E. Anderson; published February 26, 2003</ref> he subsequently attended the University of Paris and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

In 1955, Culberson joined the botany department at Duke University; he subsequently managed Duke's acquisition of the lichen-centric herbaria of Julien Harmand and Johan Havaas. He served as the Hugo L. Blomquist Professor.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/13/science/pariahs-of-the-fungal-world-lichens-finally-get-some-respect.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title= Pariahs of the Fungal World, Lichens Finally Get Some Respect |date= June 13, 1995 |author= Yoon, Carol Kaesuk |work= The New York Times}}</ref> In 2010, the lichen collection was officially named the William Louis & Chicita F. Culberson Lichen Herbarium & Library. In the mid-1970s he hosted Ingvar Kärnefelt at Duke; Kärnefelt studied the Culbersons' collections of ''Cetraria'' and later published a widely reproduced photograph he took of William and Chicita Culberson seated at their garden table.<ref name="Kärnefelt 2025">{{cite journal |last=Kärnefelt |first=Ingvar |year=2025 |title=Reflections of my life and career |journal=Acta Botanica Hungarica |volume=67 |issue=1–3 |page=8 |doi=10.1556/034.67.2025.1-3.2 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

He served as president of the Botanical Society of America and the American Bryological and Lichenological Society<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elix |first1=John A. |last2=Nash III |first2=Thomas H. |year=2003 |title=A tribute to William Louis Culberson |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=93–95 |doi=10.1016/S0024-2829(03)00025-2}}</ref> and as director of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.<ref>[http://www.lichenology-jp.org/files/9513/4908/1058/nl21.pdf Obituary: Dr. William Louis Culberson (1929 - 2003)]; by Isao Yoshimura; in the Newsletter of the Japanese Society for Lichenology, no. 21 (page 72 - English version); retrieved October 22, 2013</ref> He was the first editor-in-chief of the journal ''Systematic Botany''.<ref>[http://www.botany.org/plantsciencebulletin/psb-1975-21-4.php PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN: A Publication of the Botanical Society of America], December 1975 Vol. 21 No. 4; archived at Botany.org</ref> In 1992, he became one of the first modern recipients of the Acharius Medal.<ref>[http://www.lichenology.org/index.html?/Awards/AchariusMedallists.html Acharius Medallists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624065615/http://www.lichenology.org/index.html?%2FAwards%2FAchariusMedallists.html |date=2021-06-24 }} at Lichenology.org; retrieved October 22, 2013</ref>

In 2000, Theodore Esslinger erected ''Culbersonia'', which is a fungal genus in the family Caliciaceae and named in Bill Culberson and Chicita F. Culberson's honour, his "longtime friends and mentors".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Esslinger |first1=Theodore L. |title=''Culbersonia americana'', a rare new lichen (Ascomycota) from Western America |journal=The Bryologist |volume=103 |issue=4 |year=2000 |pages=771–773 |doi=10.1639/0007-2745(2000)103[0771:CAARNL]2.0.CO;2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen |trans-title=Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2022 | isbn=978-3-946292-41-8 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2022|format=pdf |language=de |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2022 |access-date=January 27, 2022}}</ref>

==Personal life== In 1953,<ref>[http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_CulbersonWL.html Acharius Medallists: William Louis Culberson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070719235535/http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_CulbersonWL.html |date=2007-07-19 }} at Lichenology.org; retrieved October 22, 2013</ref> Dr. Culberson married fellow lichenologist Chicita F. Forman.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{YouTube|We3pbvr3hmU|Photos of the dedication ceremony of the William Louis & Chicita F. Culberson Lichen Herbarium & Library}}.

{{Presidents of the Botanical Society of America|state=collapsed}} {{Presidents of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society|state=collapsed}} {{Recipients of the Acharius Medal}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culberson, William Louis}} Category:American lichenologists Category:1929 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Acharius Medal recipients Category:Botanical Society of America Category:Duke University faculty Category:University of Cincinnati alumni Category:University of Paris alumni Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:Deaths from cancer in North Carolina Category:People from Indianapolis Category:20th-century American botanists Category:21st-century American botanists Category:American expatriates in France