Erich E. Steiner, Professor of Botany in the Department of Biology, will retire from active faculty status as of May 31, 1988, after thirty-eight years of service.

After receiving his B.S. degree in botany from The University of Michigan in 1940, Professor Steiner went to the Blandy Experimental Farm on a research fellowship from the University of Virginia. From 1942 to 1946, he served in the United States Army as an educational officer, where he planned and administered educational and vocational programs at Ashbury General Hospital. Professor Steiner then enrolled at Indiana University, earning his Ph.D. degree in botany in 1950. He joined the faculty of The University of Michigan as an instructor in botany in 1950; he was promoted to assistant professor in 1953, associate professor in 1957 and professor in 1961.

While developing his program at both the old University Botanical Garden and in the department, Professor Steiner established his research on the balanced lethal genes of Oenothera. His research was extended to include studies of genecology, through which we now understand many of the mechanisms underlying the evolution and distribution of Oenothera. At the same time, Professor Steiner developed a course in plant genetics and was an important participant in the popular undergraduate course in botany into whose laboratory he later introduced an innovative "audio-tutorial" system. He is the co-author of a laboratory manual in botany that was widely adopted, and published a manual for the audio-tutorial course.

Professor Steiner has received a significant measure of external recognition. In 1960, he was awarded the National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship. He has been a guest professor at the University of Cologne and the University of Duesseldorf, and a visiting professor at the University of California-Davis. He also served as chairman of the teaching section of the Botanical Society of America, a member of the editorial board of the Plant Science Bulletin, and a member of the board of directors of the Michigan Botanical Club and the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.

The Regents now salute this distinguished faculty member for his many contributions to the Department of Biology by naming Erich E. Steiner Professor Emeritus of Botany.