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Collectors of the UNC Herbarium
Dr. Velma Dare Matthews
(1904-1958)
The information from the Milestone was provided
by Nancy Matthews and George Sawyer of Coker College.
Additional bibliographic information was compiled by Lisa Giencke.
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Portrait from 1956 Milestone
dedication
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Born 1904, Burlington,
North Carolina
B.A. North Carolina
College for Women (now University of North Carolina
- Greensboro)
M.A. 1927: Studies on the Saprolegniaceae and the
genus Pythium
Ph.D. 1930: Studies on the genera Nematosporangium
and Pythium
M.A. and Ph.D. degrees were completed at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the advisement
of Dr. William Chambers Coker.
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From the 1958 Milestone
(Coker College yearbook):
"How beautifully feminine she looked in her blue hat that
matched her blue eyes" as described by a chapel speaker.
Velma Matthews was head
of Coker's Biology Department for twenty-two years. This mental
picture will always remain in our minds, for Dr. Matthews was
lovely, not only in appearance, but also in life.
A prominent Carolina scientist, Dr. Matthews filled key state
and regional offices in a number of scientific organizations,
including a 1946-1947 term as the first women president of the
South Carolina Academy of Science. She was also author of numerous
scientific publications.
She was a leader as well in local community planning and improvement
activities. Coker's campus was Dr. Matthew's own personal garden,
and we at Coker loved her for the beauty she created and shared
with others, for the value she found in people and for the courage
of her life.

Curriculum North Carolina UNC In Ecology Botanical Garden Biology Department
University of North Carolina
Herbarium
CB# 3280, Coker Hall
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280
phone: (919) 962-6931
fax: (919) 962-6930
email: herbarium@bio.unc.edu
Last Updated: 6 June
2005 |