William S. Benninghoff, Professor of Botany in the Department of
Biology, will retire from active faculty status as of May 31, 1988, after
thirty-one years of service.

Professor Benninghoff received his S.B. degree magna cum laude
from Harvard University in 1940, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, also from
Harvard University, in 1942 and 1948, respectively. From 1943 to 1946, he
served in the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific as a
deck officer in the United States Navy. From 1948 to 1957, he was a
botanist with U.S. Geological Survey in Washington, D.C. In 1957,
Professor Benninghoff joined the faculty of The University of Michigan as
an associate professor; he was promoted to professor in 1960. Professor
Benninghoff began phytosociological studies and glacial geological
fieldwork in Michigan and neighboring states while broadening his
understanding of the terrain and ecology of Antarctica. Increasingly, he
applied his palynological skills to the analysis of Quaternary vegetation and
to the dissemination of pollen and spores in the atmosphere. As a result, he
published numerous papers that have been widely cited.

The breadth of his interests and the serious and intense application of
his research have gained Professor Benninghoff international recognition
and audiences. Included among the invited presentations he has made are the
1984 Symposium of the Internationale Vereinigung fur Vegetationskunde in
Tokyo, the 1985 Opening Lecture to the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature, and the 1985 Symposium on Antarctic
Conservation in Bonn, West Germany.

Professor Benninghoff has been elected an honorary member of the
International Association or Aerobiology and belongs to numerous other
scientific organizations. In addition, he has been a member of such national
and international commissions as the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
Professor Benninghoffs quotidian responsibilities as a faculty member
and teacher have been handled professionally; he has been the mentor of
doctoral students who have contributed in their own right to plant ecology,
aerobiology, and palynology. His notable contributions to the College and
the University include service as both curator of ecology and director of the
Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

The Regents now salute this distinguished faculty member for his
many contributions to the Department of Biology and the University
community by naming William S. Benninghoff Professor Emeritus of
Botany.