Edmund Ware Sinnott: President of AAAS, 1948.

IT MAY SEEM STRANGE TO SOME that a noted botanist should express concern about the human species, not only as a mechanism of physical, chemical, and biological properties, but also as an individual having spiritual values and needs. Such an awareness is merely the evidence of a frank recognition that the world is sick and that science alone is not enough. Such a credo, though Dr. Sinnott would scarcely use the word, helps us to understand the many facets of the man who at present is head of Yale's Sheffield Scientific School, an institution now devoted exclusively to graduate work. Concerned with graduate study and recognizing its paramount importance to mankind, besides being a famous investigator in his own right, Director Sinnott neither overlooks nor minimizes the undergraduate curriculum. He would have college students study both the broad aspects of science and the fundamental structures of the humanities. The new president of the AAAS got off to a flying start by being born in the environs of Harvard University on February 5, 1888. Sinnott was graduated from Harvard in 1908, took his Master's degree two years later, and was awarded the Ph.D, in 1913. During these years at Harvard, he held in turn the positions of Austin teaching fellow and assistant in botany, Sheldon traveling fellow for botanical research in Australasia, and instructor in wood technology. He served as professor of botany and genetics at Connecticut Agricultural College (1915-28), held a similar position at Columbia (1928-40), was appointed Sterling professor of botany and chairman of the department at Yale (1940), and became director of the Sheffield Scientific School in 1945. Sinnott has thus been associated with the traditions of great educational institutions, and this is not only a distinction but also a heritage and a challenge. That he has won the approval and admiration of his fellow scientists is attested by his election to the presidency of one of the great scientific organizations of the world. Professor Sinnott has previously been honored, particularly by biologists, upon numerous occasions. He was starred in the third edition of American men of science. He has served as president of the Botanical Society of America (1937), the American Society of Naturalists (1945), and the Torrey Botanical Club (1931-34). He is a member of the National Academy