Margaret Clay Ferguson

Margaret Ferguson was born in 1863, in Orleans, New York. She studied chemistry and botany at Wellesley College.

After graduating from Cornell University, and obtaining her doctorate, she returned to Wellesley, and became head of the department of botany.

She focused her research on plant genetics, especially of Petunia, and she analyzed the inheritance of features such as petal color, flower pattern and pollen color.

Her research contributed in the building of a major database of genetic information. As a result of her achievements, she received many honors and awards, including election as the first woman President of the Botanical Society of America in 1929. She died in 1951.