In Memoriam: Dr. Alton M. Harvill Jr.

Dr. Alton M. Harvill Jr., professor emeritus of biology, died Feb. 21 in Cape Carteret, N.C. Dr. Harvill, who taught at Longwood from 1963 to 1983, was a botanist and an expert on Virginia flora. He was the chief author of all three editions of Atlas of the Virginia Flora, published in 1977, 1981 and 1992. A longtime systematic collector of plants from across Virginia, he established what is considered one of the finest and most significant collections of vascular plant specimens in the mid-Atlantic region, the Harvill-Stevens Herbarium, which contains more than 75,000 specimens. He specialized in documenting the geographical distribution of plants. In 1998 he established a merit-based scholarship, which bears his name, awarded to an incoming freshman biology major. He received the Thomas Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Natural Science from the Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation in 1988. He was 91.