George Hill Mathewson Lawrence

George Hill Mathewson Lawrence was born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island on June 19, 1910. His parents were Dana Lawrence, and Anna (Mathewson) Lawrence (or Anna M. Mathewson).) in Warwick in 1928. He then attended Rhode Island State College, In 1934, he married Miriam Boothby of Westbrook, Maine. After receiving the doctorate, Lawrence remained as Bailey's assistant in the Bailey Hortorium (within the university) until World War II started in 1943. When Bailey retired in 1951, It is still a standard text for students of systematic botany. During the mid-1950s. Lawrence travelled to England. While he was away, he kept a close correspondence with Dr. Bailey and the Hortorium staff. These letters are among the Lawrence Papers stored in 'Special Collections' at Cornell. He also he wrote "Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954); An Appreciation" in 'Baileya' Vol.3 Issue 1, page 26–40 in 1954. In 1954, he was given a Guggenheim Fellowship Award, in the field of Plant Sciences. In 1954, Lawrence also managed the transition of the Bailey Hortorium from its previous home at Sage Place to its new facilities in Mann Library. It provided the Hortorium with a centrally located space on the university campus. Which is now classed as a synonym of Lapeirousia fabricii subsp. fabricii. In 1955, Lawrence was also the author of another standard textbook on botany: 'Introduction to Plant Taxonomy',Macmillan, 179 pages. In 1960, Lawrence left the Bailey Hortorium, (after 21 years of being a student and teacher) to assume the position of director of the newly established Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Botanical Library at the then Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania, He was editor of 'Adanson; the bicentennial of Michel Adanson's Families de plantes', published by Hunt Botanical Library, between 1963 and 1964, produced in 2 volumes. In 1964, Lawrence established Huntia, the institute's scholarly journal of botanical history. The journal was published irregularly in one or more numbers per volume of approximately 200 pages by Hunt Institute. Volumes 1 to 7, was issued in 14 volumes, large octavo (folded paper) they were paperback apart from Volume 2 which was clothbound. Then in 'Huntia' Vol.1, pages 162–165 in 1964, Lawrence wrote an article, The botanical significance of letters and manuscripts. Lawrence had become 'director emeritus' of the Bailey Hortorium before he retired in 1970, Lawrence was also a student of local history and an avid bibliophile and collector of rare books. Lawrence was a member of the URI (University of Rhode Island) Century Club and a trustee of the URI Foundation and Chairman of the Foundation's Campus Beautification Committee. In 1977, he had compiled a pamphlet detailing statistics and accomplishments of the class of 1934 for its 45th reunion. He was a Foreign Honorary Fellow of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. ==Bibliography==

The George H.M. Lawrence Memorial Award It commemorated the life and achievements of Dr. George H. M. Lawrence (1910–1978), founding director of Hunt Institute. From its inception in 1979 to its ending in 2020, the annual (semi-annual from 1988 to 2000) award in the amount of $2,000 was made to outstanding doctoral candidates with travel costs in support of dissertation research in systematic botany or horticulture or the history of the plant sciences, including literature and exploration. The Lawrence Memorial Fund Award Committee, which included representatives from Hunt Institute, The Hunt Foundation, the Lawrence family and the botanical community, selected recipients from candidates nominated by their major professors. The award was presented at the annual banquet of the Botanical Society of America. Award recipients 1979 – 2020: • 1979 – Michael J. Balick, Ph.D., Harvard University, 1980, Director and Philecology Curator, Institute of Economic Botany, New York Botanical Garden • 1980 – James M. Affolter, Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1983, Director of Research, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia; professor, Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia • 1981 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 1982 – Janet R. Sullivan, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 1984, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Collection Manager, Hodgdon Herbarium, University of New Hampshire • 1983 – Raymond B. Cranfill, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2001 • 1984 – Mark W. Chase, Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1985, Director, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew • 1985 – George E. Schatz, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1987, Curator, Africa and Madagascar Department, Missouri Botanical Garden; adjunct professor, University of Missouri, St. Louis • 1986 – Andrew J. Henderson, Ph.D., City University of New York, 1987, Curator, Institute of Systematic Botany, New York Botanical Garden • 1987 – John V. Freudenstein, Ph.D., Cornell University, 1992, Director, Herbarium, Museum of Biological Diversity, Ohio State University • 1988 – Clayton J. Antieau, Ph.D., University of Washington, 1987, Senior Wetland Ecologist and Botanist, Washington State Department of Transportation • 1989 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 1990 – Chester E. Wilson, State University of New York at Stony Brook, a student of James Thomson, Mr. Wilson has undertaken a study of secondary sex characteristics in dioecious species of Polytrichaceae. The proceeds of the award will help support his travel in the U.S. and Europe for herbarium research. • 1991 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 1992 – J. Travis Columbus, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1996, Research Scientist, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California and Professor of Botany, Claremont Graduate University • 1993 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 1994 – Kathleen M. Pryer, Ph.D., Duke University, 1995, professor, Biology Department, Duke University • 1996 – Amy J. Litt, Ph.D., City University of New York, 1999 • 1997 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 1998 – J. Chris Pires, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2000, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia • 1999 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 2000 – Anne Katherine Hansen, University of Texas at Austin, a student of Professor Robert K. Jansen, for her dissertation research, Ms. Hansen has undertaken a study of the genus Passiflora with a special emphasis on the large group of species with a basic chromosome number of 9. The proceeds of the Award will help support her travel in Brazil for field research. • 2001 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 2002 – Andrew L. Hipp, University of Wisconsin Madison, a student of Paul E. Berry, Mr. Hipp has undertaken a phylogenetic and taxonomic study of Carex section Ovales. He will use the proceeds of the Award to support his field studies of the Carex microptera complex. • 2003 – Sarah E. Edwards, Ph.D., University of London, 2006, Data Services Officer: Medicinal Plant Names Services, Biodiversity Informatics and Spatial Analysis, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew • 2004 – Danica T. Harbaugh, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2007, Research Scientist, university and Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley • 2005 – Ricarda Riina, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin—Madison, 2006, Researcher, Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid • 2006 – Eric Schuettplez, Ph.D., a student of Dr. Kathleen M. Pryer at Duke University, 2007. For his dissertation research, Mr. Schuettpelzhas undertaken a study of understanding the origin of diversification of fern epiphytes. • 2007 – Mr. Jimmy K. Triplett, Ph.D., a student of Dr. Lynn G. Clark at Iowa State University, 2008. For his dissertation research, Mr. Triplett has undertaken study of woody bamboo genus Pleioblastus. Later, assistant professor and Herbarium Curator, Department of Biology, Jacksonville State University • 2008 – Mr. Dylan O. Burge, a student of Professor Paul Manos at Duke University. The proceeds of the award will help support his travel for field and collections-based work in an integrative research study of the genus Ceanothus. • 2009 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 2010 – Ms. Christine D. Bacon, a student of Professor Mark P. Simmons at Colorado State University, 2011. The proceeds of the award will help support her travel for field and collections-based work in an integrative research study of the genus Pritchardia. Postdoctoral researcher, University of Gothenburg, Sweden • 2011 – Mr. Brian Sidoti, student of Dr. Kenneth Cameron of the University of Wisconsin, 2015. Adjunct Professor, Natural Sciences, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota • 2012 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 2013 – Aleksandar Radosavljevic, student of Dr. Patrick Herendeen of the Chicago Botanical Garden and Northwestern University. The proceeds of the award will help support his travel for field and collections-based work in integrative research study of the genus Cynometra. • 2014 – The Lawrence Award was not presented. • 2015 – Keir Wefferling, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, 2018, Postdoctoral researcher, University of California, Berkeley • 2016 – Andre Hahn, Ph.D., Oregon State University, 2018. The Lawrence Award was not presented in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. ==References==

• Biogr. details incl. portr. in Rheedea, 20(1): 28 (2010)