The W. S. Benninghoff collection consists of three series: Botany Department, Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and University of Michigan Biological Station. The strength of the collection is its documentation of the administrative aspects of the Botany Department and Matthaei Botanical Gardens in the 1970s and 1980s.
Williams S. Benninghoff, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana on March 23, 1918, was a professor of Botany at the University of Michigan from 1957 to 1988, and served as Director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens from 1977 to 1986. He studied for his S.B. (1940), M.A. (1942), and Ph.D. (1948) degrees at Harvard University. From 1943 to 1946 he served as a deck officer in the United States Navy before returning to Harvard to complete his studies. After finishing his Ph.D. work in botany in 1948, he worked as a botanist for the U.S. Geological Survey and was head of the Alaska Terrain and Permafrost Section. He came to the University of Michigan in 1957 as an Associate Professor of Botany, and was appointed to full professor in 1960.
Benninghoff's early research activities included phytosociological studies, glacial geological field work, and the terrain and ecology of Antarctica. His later work focused on applying his palynological skills to the analysis of Quaternary vegetation and the dissemination of pollen and spores in the atmosphere. He published numerous articles in his field and has been widely cited.
Benninghoff's service to the University of Michigan's Matthaei Botanical Gardens spanned two decades. He served as Curator of Ecological Collections (1966-1986), Assistant Director (1965-1966), Acting Director (1975) and Director (1977-1986). During this time he oversaw the gardens' 75th Anniversary Celebration in 1982, the day-to-day administrative functions of the gardens, and supervised ongoing ecological research projects based on the gardens' lands and plant collections.
He was also an active member of the teaching faculty, supervising the work of many doctoral students and teaching in the areas of general ecology, plant ecology, physiology, geography, limnology, oceanography, and biotics. He also served on several university committees during his tenure on the faculty, and received numerous awards for his accomplishments, including the Department of Interior Meritorious Service Award, 1954; the Antarctic Service Medal of the United States, 1973; and the Hiroshima (Japan) University Commemorative Medal, 1974. Upon his retirement in 1988, he was named Professor Emeritus of Botany
Benninghoff passed away on January 25, 1993 at the age of 74, and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
