University of California: In Memoriam, 1946
Herbert John Webber, Tropical Agriculture: Berkeley and Riverside
| 1865-1946 |
HERBERT JOHN WEBBER, Professor Emeritus of Subtropical Horticulture of the University of California, died at Riverside, California, January 18, 1946, in his eighty-first year. In his passing the University of California lost one of its outstanding scholars, and horticultural science lost one of its greatest leaders. His vision, energy, enthusiasm, intelligence, and generous spirit were of great value to the increase of knowledge in his chosen field of endeavor.
Dr. Webber was born near Lawton, Michigan, December 27, 1865. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm in central Iowa where he developed physical strength, self reliance, and a sense of responsibility. He attended a one-room country school and a seminary in Iowa, and in 1883, entered the University of Nebraska where, through the inspiration of the great botanist, Dr. Charles E. Bessey, he was led into a career in botany. After receiving the Bachelor of Science degree in 1889, and the Master of Arts degree the following year, he began cytological studies of fecundation and reproduction. He was one of the pioneers in this field of research. The work was conducted at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and later at the Shaw School of Botany, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.
These studies were interrupted in 1892 when he took a position in the Section of Plant Pathology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and went to Florida with Dr. Walter T. Swingle, to investigate the diseases of citrus. Thus began the close association of Webber and Swingle with the citrus industry which continued with little interruption over a period of half a century.
In 1897 Dr. Webber was transferred to Washington, D.C., where his principal assignment was shifted to the field of plant breeding. Three years later the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, was conferred on him by Washington University for work done in the Shaw School of Botany and the Missouri Botanical Garden, and also for his discoveries in connection with the spermatogenesis and fecundation of Zamia.
Dr. Webber was one of the first men in this country to recognize the tremendous possibilities in the discoveries of Gregor Mendel concerning heredity in plants which were brought to light about this time.
In 1907 he was called to Cornell University to organize and head the Department of Experimental Plant Breeding. From 1909 to 1910 he was also the Acting Director of the New York State College of Agriculture and Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1912 he accepted an offer from the University of California to become Director of the Citrus Experiment Station and Dean of the Graduate School of Tropical Agriculture at Riverside.
In 1920 Dr. Webber resigned his position with the University to become General Manager of the Pedigreed Seed Company, Hartsville, South Carolina, but the following year he was recalled to the University of California with residence in Berkeley. He was appointed Professor of Subtropical Horticulture and Director of the Citrus Experiment Station, a post which he held until 1929. During the University year, 1923-1924, Dr. Webber was also Acting Dean and Director of the College of Agriculture. In 1926, after a sabbatical leave in which he studied the citrus industry in the Union of South Africa and southern Rhodesia and journeyed around the world, the Webbers moved to Riverside. Dr. Webber retired as Director of the Citrus Experiment Station in 1929, and in 1936, at age 70, he retired. Official retirement did not, however, interrupt his activities in his chosen field.
Dr. Webber was the recipient of two honorary degrees: Doctor of Agriculture from the University of Nebraska in 1913; and Doctor of Laws from the University of California in 1943.
Dr. Webber was a man of unusual ability, an outstanding scientist, and an inspiring leader of men. At the turn of the century he was leading and organizing the plant breeding activities of the
Dr. Webber may be characterized by his kindly disposition, his contagious enthusiasm, his penetrating vision, and his unlimited energy. He was a friendly man, even tempered, and generous of his time and ideas. He loved life and looked for the good in everyone. As the Director of the Experiment Station he was a courageous, forward-looking organizer, always encouraging and guiding, but not dictating, the work of his associates.
Dr. Webber's published papers comprise a list of 263 entries, and cover the period 1888 to 1946. Many fields of interest attracted his attention with a definite concentration, in his later years, on aspects of subtropical horticulture. His researches in the field of citriculture were brought together in several monographs which appeared as separate chapters in Volumes I and II of The Citrus Industry of which he was co-editor.
Contributing to the knowledge and the production of many crop plants, Dr. Webber worked in Florida on citrus, pineapples, and guavas; in Washington, D.C., on cotton, citrus, tobacco, corn, and cowpeas; in New York, on oats, timothy hay, peppers, and Irish potatoes; and in California, on citrus, avocados, dates, lemon guavas, and feijoas.
He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and held membership in many learned and honorary organizations including American Botanical Society, American Society of Naturalists, Society of Horticultural Science, American Genetic Association, Ecological Society of America, The Society of the Sigma Xi, Alpha Zeta, and Kappa Delta Rho.
Dr. and Mrs. Webber are survived by four children and nine grandchildren. The children are: (Mrs.) Eugene Frances (Webber) Morrison, (Mrs.) Fera Ella (Webber) Shear, Herbert Earl Webber, and John Milton Webber.
Courtesy of University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/info
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb300004ss&brand=calisphere
Title: 1946, University of California: In Memoriam
By: University of California (System) Academic Senate, Author
Date: 1946
Contributing Institution: University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/info
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