Dr. Harold Mowry

Highlights

Florida State Plant Board

Citrus Canker

University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

Florida Entomological Society

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Florida Horticultural Society

Botany Society of America

Bio

Harold Mowry was born in Valley Falls, Kansas, in 1894. Mowry entered the University of Florida in 1916, earning his BSA, MSA, and later his Doctorate of Science.

Mowry served for six years on the Florida State Plant Board inspection force, which was designed to eradicate citrus canker. In 1932 Mowry became Associate Horticulturalist in 1932 with the University of Florida’s Agricultural Experiment Station. For the next 27 years until his retirement in 1950, Mowry held numerous positions at the station, including Assistant Director in 1933, and finally Director of the institution iin 1943.

Mowry was a prolific writer and conducted a number of important studies, including a groundbreaking study of the effects of zinc on plant growth in Florida soils. Following his retirement, he traveled to Costa Rica to become consulting director of agriculture in 1951.

Mowry maintained close associations with a wide range of organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Florida Horticultural Society, the Botany Society of America, the Florida Entomological Society, and the American Society for Horticultural Science. He was also made an honorary life member of the Florida Academy of Science.

Harold Mowry was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 1968, ten years after his death in 1958.