Peter Crane The John and Marion Sullivan University Professor, Department of the Geophysical Sciences and the College. Department of the Geophysical Sciences 5734 S. Ellis Ave. HGS 201 Chicago, IL 60637 USA Phone: 773-702-1789 E-mail: pcrane@geosci.uchicago.edu Commentaries and Editorials Career Summary [pdf] Research Publications [pdf] Books Selected Honors

Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS is The John and Marion Sullivan University Professor at The University of Chicago and holds his appointment in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences. He is known internationally for his work on the diversity of plant life--its origin and fossil history, its current status, and its conservation and use.

Peter Crane received his BSc and PhD degrees in botany from the University of Reading, UK. He also served on the faculty of the University of Reading from 1978 to 1981. In 1981 he moved to Indiana University, and he joined the Field Museum in Chicago in 1982. From 1992 to 1999 he served as Director of the Field Museum with overall responsibility for the Museum's scientific programmes, and established the Office of Environmental Programs and the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change.

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. In 2002 Kew was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Peter Crane's directorship was also marked by major improvements to the infrastructure at Kew for the collections, for science, for the public and for staff.

Peter Crane was elected to the Royal Society--the UK academy of sciences in 1998. He is a 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 was knighted in the UK for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004.

Peter Crane currently serves on the Board of WWF-UK, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

Research and Professional Interests

• Large-scale patterns and processes of plant evolution, plant paleontology.
• Integrated paleobotanical and neobotanical studies of plant diversity and evolution.
• Conservation of plant diversity.
• Strategic planning for collections-based not-for-profit organizations, especially museums and botanical gardens.
• Botanic gardens

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Reading, 1975