View source for William Chambers Coker

{{Short description|American botanist and mycologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = 
| name = 
| honorific_suffix = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| image = <!--(filename only, i.e. without "File:" prefix)-->
| image_size = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = <!--{{birth date |1872|10|24}}-->
| birth_place = [[Hartsville, South Carolina]]
| death_date = <!--{{death date and age |1953|06|26|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date)-->
| death_place = 
| death_cause = 
| resting_place = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}-->
| other_names = 
| residence = 
| citizenship = 
| nationality = 
| fields = [[Botany]]
| workplaces = [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]
| patrons = 
| education = 
| alma_mater = [[South Carolina College]]
| thesis_title = <!--(or  | thesis1_title =  and  | thesis2_title = )-->
| thesis_url = <!--(or  | thesis1_url  =   and  | thesis2_url  =  )-->
| thesis_year = <!--(or  | thesis1_year =   and  | thesis2_year =  )-->
| doctoral_advisor = <!--(or  | doctoral_advisors = )-->
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students = 
| known_for = Establishing the [[Coker Arboretum]]
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| awards = 
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| spouse = <!--(or | spouses = )-->
| partner = <!--(or | partners = )-->
| children = 
| signature = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt = 
| website = <!--{{URL|www.example.com}}-->
| footnotes = 
}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
'''William Chambers Coker''' (October 24, 1872 – June 26, 1953) was an American [[botany|botanist]] and [[mycology|mycologist]].

==Biography==
He was born at [[Hartsville, South Carolina]] on October 24, 1872.  He graduated from [[University of South Carolina|South Carolina College]] in 1894 and took postgraduate courses at [[Johns Hopkins University]] and in [[Germany]].  He taught for several years in the summer schools of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, at [[Cold Spring Harbor, New York|Cold Spring Harbor, L. I.]], and in 1902 became associate professor of [[botany]] at the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|University of North Carolina]].  He established the [[Coker Arboretum]] in 1903. He was made [[professor]] in 1907 and Kenan professor of botany in 1920.  In 1903, he was chief of the botanic staff of the Bahama Expedition of the Geographical Society of Baltimore.  Professor Coker was a member of many scientific societies and the author of ''The Plant Life of Hartsville, S. C.'' (1912); ''The Trees of North Carolina'' (with [[Henry Roland Totten]]) (1916); and ''The Saprolegniaceae of the United States'' (1921).  Besides these he contributed numerous articles on [[morphology (biology)|morphology]] and botany to scientific journals.  He died on June 26, 1953, and was buried on June 29, 1953.<ref>{{cite news |title=William Chambers Coker |quote=Funeral services were scheduled today for Dr. William Chambers Coker. 80, prominent botanist and member of the University of North Carolina teaching ... |work=[[Statesville Record & Landmark|The Landmark]] |date=June 29, 1953 }}</ref>

He is also honoured in the name of ''[[Cokeromyces recurvatus|Cokeromyces]]'', which is a pathogenic fungus.<ref name=Alvarez1995>{{cite journal |vauthors=Alvarez OA, Maples JA, Tio FO, Lee M |title=Severe diarrhea due to ''Cokeromyces recurvatus'' in a bone marrow transplant recipient |journal=American Journal of Gastroenterology |volume=90 |issue=8 |pages=1350–1 |year=1995 |pmid=7639250 |url=http://home.mdconsult.com/start_session?bp=pubmed&loginpage=ft_onewindow&targeturl=/public/journal/view%3Fjtc=03HE%26vol=90%26iss=8%26page=1350%26auth=Alvarez%2BOA%26title=Severe%2Bdiarrhea%2Bdue%2Bto%2BCokeromyces%2Brecurvatus%2Bin%2Ba%2Bbone%2Bmarrow%2Btransplant%2Brecipient.%26pubmedid=7639250 |access-date=2020-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030939/http://home.mdconsult.com/start_session?bp=pubmed&loginpage=ft_onewindow&targeturl=%2Fpublic%2Fjournal%2Fview%3Fjtc%3D03HE%26vol%3D90%26iss%3D8%26page%3D1350%26auth%3DAlvarez%2BOA%26title%3DSevere%2Bdiarrhea%2Bdue%2Bto%2BCokeromyces%2Brecurvatus%2Bin%2Ba%2Bbone%2Bmarrow%2Btransplant%2Brecipient.%26pubmedid%3D7639250 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}{{subscription required}}</ref>

==Family==
Coker was the son of businessman [[James Lide Coker]], and the brother of agriculturalist [[David Robert Coker]].<ref name=Marquis>[https://archive.org/details/whoswho141926/page/480/mode/2up COKER, William Chambers], in ''[[Who's Who in America]]'' (14th edition, 1926); p. 480</ref>!-- although Marquis does not explicitly say that David Robert and William Chambers were brothers, not only did they have the same surname, they were born in the same city, two years apart, to parents with exactly the same names and surnames. I therefore reasonably infer.-->

==Species described==
*''[[Lactarius subtorminosus]]'' Coker (1918)<ref name=Coker1918>{{cite journal |author=Coker WC. |title=The Lactarias of North Carolina |journal=Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society |year=1918 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–62 (see p.&nbsp;18) |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27890362}}</ref>
*''[[Multifurca furcata]]'' (Coker) Buyck & V. Hofstetter (2008) – as ''Lactarius furcatus''<ref name=Coker1918/>

{{Botanist|Coker|Coker}}

* {{NIE}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Presidents of the Botanical Society of America|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{-}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coker, William Chambers}}
[[Category:American mycologists]]
[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:American educators]]
[[Category:Botanical Society of America]]
[[Category:People from Hartsville, South Carolina]]
[[Category:University of South Carolina alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century American botanists]]
[[Category:20th-century American botanists]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]

{{US-botanist-stub}}