Wilson Nichols Stewart

Wilson Nichols Stewart

Wilson Nichols Stewart, palaeobotanist, educator (born at Madison, Wisconsin 7 Dec 1917; died at Kootney, BC, 2 Apr 2004). An imaginative and creative scientist, Stewart strongly influenced the field of BOTANY during his tenure at the University of Alberta (U of A). Following completion of a PhD at the University of Wisconsin (1947), Stewart established a sound reputation at the University of Illinois, Urbana, for work with Isoetales and their fossil relatives and with pteridosperms. He became a professor at U of A in 1966 and was chairman of its botany department until 1971. Following retirement in 1978, Stewart undertook the writing of a comprehensive and finely illustrated textbook, Palaeobotany and the Evolution of Plants (1983; 2nd ed, 1993), a lasting contribution.