Rate My Professor Gustav Mehlquist

Gustav Arthur Leonard Mehlquist was born on April 13, 1906, in Eskilstuna, Sweden. He immigrated to the United States in 1927 and became a naturalized citizen in 1933. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1936 with Highest Distinction in Botany. He earned a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mehlquist served as an assistant professor of genetics at the University of California, Berkeley, and later as a research horticulturist at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. He became associate professor and then full professor of botany at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1952, he returned to the University of Connecticut as professor of plant breeding and later taught biology systematics and evolutionary biology. He was named emeritus professor at UConn. Mehlquist was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Sigma, Sigma Xi, and Gamma Sigma Delta. He belonged to professional societies including the American Rhododendron Society, Connecticut Horticultural Society, Connecticut Nurseryman’s Association, Connecticut Orchid Society, and Connecticut Rhododendron Society. He published numerous scientific papers and was known for his work in plant breeding, particularly the development of rhododendron hybrids, some of which have been distributed commercially. Mehlquist died on August 28, 1999, at his home in Storrs, Connecticut, at the age of 93.

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