Botany; Shade Tree Laboratory, 1950-1973
b. April 1903, Providence, R.I.
Forest pathologist and arboriculturist Malcolm Arthur McKenzie was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in April 1903. After attending Brown University (PhD Forest Pathology, 1935), he worked successively as a field assistant for the United States Forest Service forest products lab, as an instructor at the University of North Carolina, and finally with the University of Massachusetts. Hired into the Botany Department, McKenzie was appointed director of the Shade Tree Laboratory in 1950, remaining in that position until his retirement in 1973.
McKenzie is best known for conducting important research on the diseases of shade trees, including Dutch elm disease, wood decay, and tree pests, as well as related issues in tree hazards in public utility work and municipal tree maintenance.
See also the Malcolm A. McKenzie Papers in SCUA.