Lunsford Yandell

Lunsford Pitts Yandell Sr. (July 4, 1805 – February 4, 1878) was an American medical doctor, educator, geologist, paleontologist and preacher. He was one of the founders and first professors at the University of Louisville. He also taught at Transylvania University and the Memphis Medical College.

Early life Lunsford Pitts Yandell was born on July 4, 1805, in Hartsville, Tennessee to Elizabeth (née Pitts) and Dr. Wilson Yandell. His father practiced medicine in Hartsville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Career Yandell practiced medicine for five years with his father in Murfreesboro until his father's death. In 1831, Yandell accepted the Chair of Chemistry in the medical department of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.

Yandell was a member of the Presbyterian Church and became licensed in 1862 as a preacher in Tennessee. He also published the article On the Distribution of the Crinoidea in the Western States about the class Crinoidea.

Personal life Yandell married Susan I. Wendel of Murfreesboro on October 18, 1825. They had thirteen children, but only three sons and a daughter survived infancy. Two sons became physicians, Lunsford Yandell Jr. and David Wendel Yandell. His wife died in 1860 from typhoid fever. He was married a second time.

Several fossils are named after Yandell.