C. Earle Smith Jr. Biographical Timeline

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1922

Born on March 8 in Boston, MA

1940

Graduates from St. Petersburgh High School in Florida

1940-1941

Studies at Harvard University

1941

Assists Richard Evans Schultes with ethnobotanical collection in Colombia

1942-1946

Serves in the U.S. Navy during World War II after learning about the bombing at Pearl Harbor

1946-1953

Returns to Harvard to continue his studies in taxonomic botany

1948

Marries Roberta Jean Klages on June 9

1948

Excavates at Bat Cave; discovers early maize

1949

Earns AB, cum laude

1951

Earns AM

1951

Earns PhD

1953-1958

Employed as assistant curator at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, employed as Acting Director of the Taylor Memorial Arboretum, employed as a Consultant at Smith, Kline, and French in Philadelphia

1959-1961

Employed as Associate Curator at the Field Museum; employed as Consultant at Scott Forsman Co. in WI

1962-1969

Employed as Senior Research Botanist at the United States Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, MD

1970-1987

Employed as Professor of Anthropology and Biology at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL (served as Chair from1981-1986)

1979-1980

Serves as President of the Society for Economic Botany

1987

Dies at age 65 in an automobile accident on October 19 in Tuscaloosa, AL