Helen Ashurst Choate

Helen Ashurst Choate (August 29, 1882 – December 12, 1957) was an American plant physiologist and historian of science who taught botany at Smith College from 1909 to 1947. (Her middle name is spelled "Ashhurst" in many records, but Smith College Archives uses the one-h spelling.)

Early life and education Choate was born in Irvington, New York, the daughter of Washington Choate and Grace Richards Whiton Choate. Linguist and educator James Morris Whiton was her uncle.

She graduated from Smith College in 1904, and earned a master's degree there in 1909, working with William Francis Ganong. She completed a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1920, with a dissertation titled "Chemical Changes in Wheat During Germination" (1921). She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. until she retired in 1947, and was department head for several years. "A Standardization of Floral Diagrams for Educational Use" (1914) "An Unpublished Letter by Gronovius" (1916) "The Earliest Glossary of Botanical Terms: Fuchs 1542" (1917) "Chemical Changes in Wheat During Germination" (1921) "Dormancy and Germination in Seeds of Echinocystis lobata" (1940) "William Francis Ganong 1864-1941" (1941, with Frances Grace Smith)

Personal life Choate lived with her older sister Miriam Choate Hobart in their later years. Choate died in 1957, at the age of 75, at a hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith College Archives holds a box of her papers.