About

Peter Robert Crane

Carl W. Knobloch Jr. Dean

Office: Kroon Hall, 231

Mailing Address

Street address: 195 Prospect Street, New Haven CT 06511

Bio/Research:

Professor Sir Peter Crane is Carl W. Knobloch Jr. Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University and Professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics.  He is known internationally for his work on the diversity of plant life – its origin, fossil history, current status, conservation and use.  He received his BSc and PhD degrees in botany from the University of Reading, UK and served on the faculty of that university from 1978 to 1981.  In 1981 he moved to Indiana University, and from 1982 to 1999 he was at the Field Museum in Chicago.  From 1992 to 1999 he served as Director of the Field Museum with overall responsibility for the Museum’s scientific programmes.  He also established the Office of Environmental Programs and the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change at the Field Museum.

From 1999 to 2006 Peter Crane was Director of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew one of the largest, most prestigious and influential botanical gardens in the world.  His tenure at Kew saw strengthening and expansion of the gardens’ scientific, conservation and public programmes on the variety of plant life as well as major improvements to the infrastructure for collections, science, public and staff.  In 2002 Kew was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

From 2006 to 2009 Peter Crane was the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor at The University of Chicago. He was elected to the Royal Society – the UK academy of sciences in 1998 and was knighted in the UK for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a Member of the German Academy Leopoldina.  He is the recipient of several honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate of science from Cambridge University.

Peter Crane currently serves on the Board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas, WWF-US, and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.