About John Merle Coulter
John Merle Coulter, Ph. D. (November 20, 1851 – December 23, 1928) was an American botanist and educator. In his career in education administration, Coulter is notable for serving as the president of Indiana University and Lake Forest College and the head of the Department of Botany at the University of Chicago. == Early life and education == John Merle Coulter was born in Ningpo, China to missionary parents Caroline Elvira Crowe and Moses Stanley Coulter. His brother was the botanist Stanley Coulter. He graduated from Hanover College in Indiana receiving the degree A.B. in 1870, followed by an A.M. in 1873 and Ph.D. in 1883 from the Indiana University. Indiana University conferred a pro merito Ph.D. to Coulter in 1884 while he was serving as professor of botany at Wabash College. He married Georgie M. Gaylord of Delphi, Indiana, on January 1, 1874. == Career == John Merle Coulter held the following positions: 1871–1879 Professor of Natural Sciences at Hanover College 1872–1875 Botanist to the United States Geological Survey in the Rocky Mountains 1879–1891 Professor of Botany at Wabash College 1891–1893 President and Professor of Botany of Indiana University, succeeding David Starr Jordan as president 1893–1896 President of Lake Forest University 1896–1925 Professor and head of the department of Botany at the University of Chicago. 1925–1928 Dean and adviser of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Yonkers, New York, a position he held until his death.
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