Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) Macbride

author

Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) Macbride

1848–1934

A pioneering botanist and naturalist, he spent more than half a century shaping science and higher education in Iowa, then briefly led the University of Iowa as its president. His writing and public work helped turn a love of the outdoors into a lasting part of the state's cultural life.

1 Audiobook

The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species

The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species

by Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) Macbride

About the author

Born in Tennessee in 1848 and raised in Iowa, Thomas Huston Macbride became one of the state's best-known scientists and teachers. He joined the University of Iowa faculty in the late 1870s, taught botany and natural history, and built a reputation as a gifted lecturer who made the natural world feel vivid and close at hand.

Macbride was more than a classroom scholar. He served as the tenth president of the University of Iowa from 1914 to 1916, and he was also an important conservation voice, encouraging scientific study of Iowa's landscapes and helping inspire what became the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory at Okoboji. His work connected academic research with field observation in a way that influenced generations of students.

He also wrote memoir and nature-focused books, including On the Campus and In Cabins and Sod-Houses. Remembered as a botanist, naturalist, educator, and advocate for the study of the outdoors, Macbride died in 1934 after a long career closely tied to the University of Iowa.