Rhoda Williams Benham

Rhoda Williams Benham (December 5, 1894 – January 17, 1957) was an American mycologist, taxonomist, and pioneer of the field of medical mycology. Throughout her career, she taught and trained many medical mycologists at Columbia University, while also conducting and publishing fundamental research in the field. Her most renowned works include her publications on the genus Candida, which established her as an authority on the yeast-like fungi pathogenic to man. Here, she began to study pathogenic fungi, and published her renown thesis: "Certain Monilias Parasitic on Man, their Identification by Morphology and by Agglutination," for her Ph.D. in Botany in 1931.

Benham was a dedicated teacher and academic, with involvement in many scientific societies and organizations, including: The Society of the Sigma Xi, the Harvey Society, the Microbiological Section of the New York Academy of Medicine, the Society of Investigative Dermatology, the Society of American Bacteriologists, the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Mycological Society of America. Her subsequent publication in 1950 established Cryptococcus neoformans as the formally accepted taxon. Benham’s publications on the genus Candida, as well as a comparable treatment of the genus Cryptococcus, cemented her authority on human-pathogenic, yeast-like fungi.

Benham’s research, however, was not limited to these two taxa. Her works on Phoma condiogena, Sporotrichum schenkii, Pityrosporum ovale, Allescheria boydii, the genus Beauveria, and the dermatophytes, demonstrate her wide range of fungal interests and scope of knowledge. Similarly, her publications on dermatophyte nutrition, many of which were co-authored with her students and associates, have considerably increased understanding of this topic, as well as the available information in this field.

Her bibliography is extensive, including contributions on medical mycology subjects to scholarly articles and the proceedings of societies in which she was a member. A comprehensive list of Rhoda Williams Benham’s publications can be seen below.

List of publications Source: Monilia infections of the hands and feet. New York State Jour. Med. 29: 793-800. 1929. (With J. G. Hopkins.) Asthma due to a fungus, Alternaria. Jour. A. M. A. 94: 6-10. 1930. (With J. G. Hopkins and B. M. Kesten.) Sensitization to saprophytic fungi in a case of eczema. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 27: 342-344. 1930. (With J. G. Hopkins and B. M. Kesten.) Certain monilias parasitic on man; their identification by morphology and by agglutination. Jour. Infect. Dis. 49: 183-215. 1931. Phonma condiogcna, an excitant in asthma: some observations on the development and cultural characteristics. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 58: 203-214. 1931. Monilias, yeasts and cryptococci; their pathogenicity, classification and identification. Am. Jour. Pub. Health 22: 502-504. 1932. Sporotrichosis in New York State. New York State Jour. Med. 32: 595-601. 1932. (With J. G. Hopkins.) Sporotrichosis: its transmission to plants and animals. Jour. Infect. Dis. 50: 437-458. 1932. (With B. M. Kesten.) Fungus infections of the skin and its appendages occurring in Puerto Rico; a clinical and mycologic study. Arch. Derm. Syph. 25: 1046-1057. 1932. (With B. M. Kesten, B. K. Ashford, C. W. Emmons and M. C. Moss.) Vegetable parasites that attack both plant and human life. Jour. New York Bot. Garden 33: 149-153. 1932. Yeast-like fungi found on the skin and in the intestines of normal subjects; a survey of 100 persons. Arch. Derm. Syph. 28: 532-543. 1933. (With A. McH. Hopkins.) The fungi of blastomycosis and coccidioidal granuloma. Arch. Derm. Syph. 30: 385-400. 1934. The terminology of the cryptococci with a note on Cryptococcus mollis. Mycologia 27: 496-502. 1935. Cryptococci-their identification by morphology and by serology. Jour. Infect. Dis. 57: 255-274. 1935. Pathogenic Fungi; Chapter 45 in "Agents of Disease & Host Resistance," Gay et al., Ch. C. Thomas, Springfield. 1935. Experimental studies with the dermatophytes. 1. Primary disease in laboratory animals. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 1: 451-467. 1938. (With E. D. DeLamater.) Experimental studies with the dermatophytes. 2. Immunity and hypersensitivity produced in laboratory animals. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 1: 469-488. 1938. (With E. D. DeLamater.) The fungi causing deep-seated infections: their diagnostic characteristics and classification. Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congress 5: 863-872. 1939. The cultural characteristics of Pityrosporum ovale-a lipophylic fungus. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 2: 187-203. 1939. Cultural characteristics of Pityrosporum ovalec-a lipophylic fungus. Nutrient and growth requirements. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 46: 176-178. 1941. The nutrient and growth requirements of Pityrosporum ovale-a lipophylic fungus. (Abstract) Torreya 41: 68-69. 1941. Laboratory procedures in the diagnosis of fungus diseases. Proc. New York State Assoc. Pub. Health Labs. 24: 69-82. 1944. Pityrosporum ovalc-a lipophylic fungus. Thiamin and oxaloacetic acid as growth factors. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 58: 199-201. 1945. Biology of Pityrosporum ovalc. Chapter 4 in Nickerson's "Biology of Patho- genic Fungi," Ann. Cryptogam. Pytopathol. VI, Chronica Botanica Pub. Co., Waltham, Mass. 1947. Allescheria boydii, causative agent in a case of meningitis. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 10: 99-110. 1948. (With L. K. Georg.) Effect of nutrition on growth and morphology of the dermatophytes. 1. Devel- opment of macroconidia in Trichophyton rubrum. Mycologia 40: 232-240. 1948. Pigment production in the differentiation of Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum. Mycologia 41: 291-302. 1949. (With F. C. Bocobo.) Cryptococcosis and blastomycosis. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 50: 1299-1314. 1950. The Laboratory of Medical Mycology. The Biopsy 2: 1-2. 1950. Nutritional studies of the dermatophytes with special reference to Trichophyton megnini Blanchard 1896 and Trichophyton gallinae (Megnin 1881), comb. nov. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 18: 453-472. 1952. (With M. Silva.) An unusual finding in Epidermophyton floccosumn. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 19: 315-317. 1952. (With P. McCormack.) Nutritional studies of the dermatophytes-effect on growth and morphology, with special reference to the production of macroconidia. Trans. New York Acad. Sci. 15: 102-106. 1953. Maduromycosis of the central nervous system. Jour. Neuropath. & Exp. Neurol. 12: 158-168. 1953. (With S. M. Aronson and A. Wolf.) The genus Beauveria, morphological and taxonomical studies of several species and of two strains isolated from wharf-piling borers. Mycologia 45: 727- 746. 1953. (With J. L. Miranda.) Chemical analysis of the capsular substance of Cryptococcus neoformans. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 22: 279-283. 1954. (With J. M. Einbinder and C. T. Nelson.) Nutritional studies of the dermatophytes with special reference to the red- pigment producing varieties of Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 22: 285-294. 1954. (With M. Silva.) Treatment of onychomyocis due to Trichophyton rubrum. A. M. A. Arch. Dermat. 71: 52-55. 1955. (With B. M. Kesten and M. Silva.) The genus Cryptococcus: the present status and criteria for the identification of species. Trans. New York Acad. Sci. 17: 418-429. 1955. Cryptococcus neoformans: "an ascomycete." Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 89. 243-245. 1955. Trichophyton rubrum infections: a clinical, mycologic and experimental study. Jour. Invest. Dermat. 25: 311-328. 1955. (With M. Silva and B. M. Kesten.) The genus Cryptococcus. Bact. Reviews 20: 189-200. 1956. Species of Candida most frequently isolated from man: methods and criteria for their identification. Jour. Chronic Dis. 5: 460-472. 1957. The chlamydospores of Candida albicans: comparison of three media for their induction. Jour. Lab. & Clin. Med. 1957. (in press-posthumously) (With J. D. Pollack.)

Awards and honors Rhoda Williams Benham won numerous awards for her photography. Some of her tree photographs, which were enlarged from black and white negatives, received honorable mention in the Medical Center Personnel's yearly art exhibits. Using her photography, Benham put together excellent exhibits that she and her colleagues presented at several annual conventions of the American Medical Association, as well as one convention each of the American Public Health Association, the Society of American Bacteriologists, and the Ninth International Dermatological Congress in Budapest in 1935. For their excellence, many of these displays received gold medals or certificates of recognition.

In Benham’s honor, the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas rewards exceptional contributions to the field of medical mycology with an annual prize. For her extensive contributions to medical mycology, and science in general, the fungus Trichophyton benhamiae was named in her honor.

Legacy Benham amassed a sizable culture collection throughout the years, contributing significantly to the field. Her photography illustrates patients, fungal cultures (both gross and microscopic), and histologic sections from infected tissues, exhibiting both deep and superficial mycoses.

Rhoda Williams Benham's many associates, students, and fellow mycologists throughout the world recognize her significant contributions to the study of pathogenic fungi. As a co-founder of the first laboratory for medical mycology research and teaching in the United States with the late Joseph Gardner Hopkins, she is considered a pioneer in the field.