Henry J. Oosting

Henry J. Oosting (March 12, 1903 – October 30, 1968) was an American ecologist and professor. He was born in Holland, Michigan. Oosting attended Hope College (A.B. 1925), Michigan State University (M.S. 1927), and then studied with W.S. Cooper at the University of Minnesota, receiving his Ph.D. in botany in 1931, among other notable Cooper students including Murray Fife Buell, Rexford F. Daubenmire, Frank Edwin Egler, and Jean Langenheim. In 1932, Oosting began his career at Duke University as ecologist in the Department of Botany.

Oosting continued teaching and research at Duke until his retirement, after which research was his focus until his death in 1968. Among his notable students are W.D. Billings, F. Herbert Bormann, and Wilfred B. Schofield.

The Henry J. Oosting Natural Area was established in Orange County, North Carolina, in his honor, and is considered to have regional significance. A new species of the vascular plant genus Trillium was named Trillium oostingii in honor of Dr. Oosting by L. L. Gaddy in 2008. Ref6

Career chronology 1927-1932 Botany instructor, Michigan State University 1932-1968 Botany professor, Duke University 1955 President of Ecological Society of America 1967 Received Meritorious Teaching Award, Association of Southeastern Biologists

Selected bibliography