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Norman Carter Fassett (March 27, 1900 – September 14, 1954) was an American botanist and professor, known as an expert on the aquatic flora of Wisconsin.

Career

Fassett was born in Ware, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard University, eventually earning his Ph.D. in 1925. That year, he was appointed an instructor of botany at the University of Wisconsin. By 1944, he had advanced to full professor and was curator of the university herbarium. Under his direction, the herbarium grew from a size of 96,000 specimens to 380,000 specimens. Fassett personally collected over 28,000. From 1948 to 1949, he was chair of the botany department.

Fassett participated in the Colombian Cinchona Mission, where he was part of a group searching for and studying Cinchona trees during World War II. He later participated in research expeditions in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

From 1945 to 1950, Fassett served as chairman of the Natural Areas Committee of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He led the effort to establish Parfrey's Glen as a scientific research area.

Fassett was a founding member of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists in 1935, and served as the president of the organization for the year preceding his death. He died of a brain tumor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine on September 14, 1954.

Publications

Fassett authored over 100 professional papers, mostly concerning the flora of North America.

Norman C. Fasset authored the book "A Manual of Aquatic Plants". SBN:299-01450-9; LC 57-6593

Published by The University of Wisconsin Press in 1940. Shortly before his death Dr. Fassett arranged for a revised edition of this book. Eugene C. Ogden handled the revision and attempted to bring the book more inline with present-day (1956) nomenclature.

Eponyms

Several species were named in honor of Fassett, including:

• Callitriche fassettii Schotsman, 1966
• Elatine fassettiana Steyerm., 1952
• Eleocharis fassettii S.González & P.M.Peterson, 2008
• Tillandsia fassettii L.B.Sm., 1955

References

1. ^ "Fassett, Norman Carter 1900 - 1954". Wisconsin Historical Society. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
2. ^ Bean, E. F.; Curtis, J. T.; Greene, M. C.; Hickey, Joseph J.; Thomson, John W. (1954). "Norman Carter Fassett". Castanea. 19 (4): 122–125. ISSN 0008-7475. JSTOR 4031763.
3. ^ Peattie, Donald Culross (1954). "Norman Carter Fassett 1900—1954". Rhodora. 56 (671): 233–242. ISSN 0035-4902. JSTOR 23304765.
4. "Norman Carter Fassett served..." Facebook. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
5. Anderson, Edgar; Tryon, Rolla M. (1955). "Norman Carter Fassett". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 82 (3): 248–250. ISSN 0040-9618. JSTOR 2482472.
6. International Plant Names Index.  Fassett.

• 20th-century American botanists
• 1900 births
• 1954 deaths
• People from Ware, Massachusetts
• University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty
• Harvard University alumni
• Deaths from brain cancer in the United States