Lincoln Constance; UC Berkeley Botanist and Key Administrator

Lincoln Constance, a noted UC Berkeley botanist who also played key roles in campus administration in the turbulent days of the 1960s, has died. He was 92.

Constance died June 11 at the Alta Loma Medical Center in Berkeley.

An expert on plants of the parsley family--the Umbelliferae, a group that also includes carrots, Constance joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1937 and remained at Berkeley until his retirement in 1976.

As an administrator, Constance was dean of the College of Letters and Science--Berkeley’s largest college--from 1955 to 1962. He served as vice chancellor for academic affairs from 1962 to 1965, which coincided with the years of the turbulent Free Speech Movement. He served as acting chancellor at various times.

Clark Kerr, who was UC Berkeley’s chancellor from 1952 to 1958 and later became chancellor of the UC system, recalled some years ago that Constance was one of the faculty members responsible for bolstering the university’s academic reputation. He did this as a member of the campus budget committee and later as dean by identifying and weeding out ineffectual faculty members and replacing them with academics strong in both teaching and research.

Born in Eugene, Ore., Constance graduated from the University of Oregon and entered UC Berkeley as a graduate student in botany. After earning his PhD in botany at Berkeley, Constance taught at what is now Washington State University for three years before returning to his alma mater. During World War II, Constance served as a research analyst at the Office of Strategic Services.

In addition to teaching, Constance became curator of seed plants in the University Herbarium, briefly headed the botany department and was director of the University Herbarium between 1963 and 1975.

A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the California Academy of Sciences, Constance was also a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.

He is survived by a son, William Constance of Berkeley.

The family requests that memorial donations be made to the UC Botanical Garden or the University Herbarium, UC Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720.

A memorial service will be held in September.