ALEXANDER H. SMITH, A.M.'29
 Ph.D'33, Professor of Botany and 
Botanist in the University Herbarium,
 first became associated with the University in 1928, when he was a Uni
versity Fellow working toward his ad
vanced degrees. For two different 
years he held an Emma J. Cole Fel
lowship in Botany.

In 1932, he was
 appointed as Research Assistant in the
 Herbarium, and was promoted until
 becoming Associate Curator in 1939. Five years ago, Dr. Smith was given
 the rank of Associate Professor in the
 Department of Botany, and he was 
advanced to full Professor this year.


His field of specialization is fungi, and 
his major project at the present time 
is the preparation of a manual on the
 fleshy fungi in the United States. His
 two-volume publication, "Mushrooms 
in Their Natural Habitats," was reviewed in the "Alumnus Quarterly Review" last summer. This is a most 
interesting work, composed of some 
six hundred pages of text, and more 
than two hundred stereo photographs 
in full color, complete with viewer. 


Professor Smith is also the author of
 numerous articles which have appeared in professional magazines in the 
field of botany. Last December he
 was elected President of the Mycologi
cal Society of America, and he has served
 as Editor of "Mycologia," the society's
 official publication.

Professor Smith
 was born December 13, 1904, in Cran
don, Wisconsin, and he did his under
graduate work at Lawrence College, 
earning the B.A. degree in 1928. He is
 a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Sigma, the
 Research Club, the Michigan Academy 
of Science, and other groups. Professor Smith was married to Helen Van
dervort, Ph.D.'40, in 1936, and they 
have a daughter, Nancy Jane, seven 
years old.