passing of a colleague

[Brian Scholtens]

Thought this would be of interest to some.  It is the obituary for a 
longtime Lep Soc member, Herb Wagner, of the University of Michigan.  He 
was best known for his contributions to plant systematics and fern 
biology, but also published several papers over many years on 
lepidoptera.  These included papers on geographic variation and several 
on the Saturniidae.  He died of congestive heart failure on January 8.  
He had finished teaching the fall term (he had been retired for several 
years, but continued to teach each term) so he kept active until about a 
week before his death.

>Herb Wagner, botanist, professor emeritus, dies
>
>Over the years, thousands packed his U-M courses.
>
>       Nearly every day of his life, Herb Wagner could be
>seen in his khaki field pants and boots, a butterfly
>net not far from his reach, his booming voice
>excitedly alerting others to his latest insight or
>discovery.
>       The internationally known botanist and popular
>University of Michigan professor  emeritus died Jan. 8
>of heart failure.  He was 79.
>       "(Wagner) was always bubbling over with enthusiasm,
>and that's infectious," said Bill Anderson, a U-M
>botany professor and Wagner's former student.  "He was
>just a ton of fun to be around."
>       Over the years, thousands of graduates and
>undergraduates packed Wagner's courses, including one
>of his most popular, called "Woody Plants."  He
>co-taught the course with Burton Barnes for years,
>including as recently as last fall.  He made teaching
>come alive by illustrating concepts in flamboyant
>ways, like setting free butterflies in a lecture to
>show students the wonders of pollination.
>       Up to a week before he died, Wagner was still working
>at his U-M lab.  One of his greatest fears was that he
>wouldn't be allowed to teach, said Anderson, who
>co-taught another course with Wagner this fall.
>       "He just loved teaching undergrads," Anderson said.
>       In some ways, "his students were his children, also,"
>said his son, Warren Wagner of Ann Arbor.  He recalls
>getting his own early lessons about nature by riding
>on his father's shoulders through the woods.
>       Wagner wrote more than 400 articles, many co-authored
>with his wife of 51 years.  Florence Wagner.  Both
>received Ph.D.s in botany from the University of
>California-Berkeley, where they met in the 1940's.
>       He is widely regarded as the founder of modern
>systematics for all groups of plants and animals, said
>Julian Adams, chairman of U-M's biology department.
>The method he pioneered for ordering plants - ranging
>from those that are the most primitive to those that
>are the most evolved - is known as the "Wagner tree."
>       Wagner received a raft of professional honors,
>including election to the National Academy of
>Sciences, one of the nation's top scientific honors.
>       Adams, who worked with Wagner for 30 years, described
>him as more than an inspiring teacher and renowned
>scientist.
>       Wagner also was an advocate of outreach to the
>community, Adams said, particularly as director of
>U-M's Matthaei Botanical Gardens from 1966-1971.
>       Although outreach is a popular buzzword today, "Herb
>actually was a pioneer in doing that in the 1970's, in
>an era when that wasn't considered important," Adams
>said.   "In those days, he was sort of looked down at
>for those activities."
>       Wagner shared his enthusiasms - for butterfly
>catching, honky-tonk piano and mineral collections -
>with his two grandsons, 7 year-old Reid and Haven, 3.
>       "He turned them both on to his mineral and butterfly
>hobbies in a big way," said his daughter, Margaret
>Wagner of Ann Arbor.
>       Colleagues and friends, expect hundreds of people to
>attend Wagner's memorial service.  Plans for the
>service have not been finalized, however.
>       Contributions in Wagner's memory can be made to The
>Nature Conservancy, 2840 E. Grand River Ave., East
>Lansing, MI 48823.
>Ann Arbor News, Friday, January 14, 2000