Dress

William J. Dress, Ph.D. '53, professor emeritus of botany at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium at Cornell, author of 10 plant books and for whom two plants have been named, died Dec. 15 at his home at Kendal at Ithaca. He was 93.

Dress, who was born in Buffalo, earned an A.B. degree (1931) in classical languages at the University of Buffalo. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps (1942-45) and honorably discharged at the rank of staff sergeant, he came to Cornell, earning his Ph.D. degree in the field of botany.

Dress was appointed assistant professor in 1953, associate professor in 1961 and professor of botany in 1968, all at the L.H. Bailey Hortorium. After 35 years of working at Cornell, he became professor emeritus in 1982.

He taught taxonomy of cultivated plants, plant nomenclature and botanical Latin. His chief research interest was the taxonomy of Compositae (a large group of flowering plants) and cultivated ornamentals in general. He was the editor of the hortorium's two journals: Baileya and Gentes Herbarum. For many years, he also served as the editor of the authoritative reference work "Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada."

Dress authored some 10 books on plants, including books on orchids, asters, cacti and milkweeds. In addition, a fossil flower named Dressiantha bicarpellata and a hosta named Dress Blue were named in his honor.

Through Dress' efforts, the town of Ithaca acquired Dress Woods, a 10-acre site of mature forest bordering Culver Road on the town's west side that was long cared for by Dress.

His outside interests included working for Friends in Service Helping (FISH) for many years as director, driver and newsletter writer, collecting of fine art and antiquities, and enjoying opera.

Dress is survived by a sister and 57 nieces and nephews. Burial was at St. Matthew's Cemetery in West Seneca, N.Y. Memorials donations can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (email: donations@michaeljfox.org) or mailed to Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Attention Tribute Gifts, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 780, New York, NY 10008-0780.