John Sheard

Professor Emeritus
Biology, College of Arts and Science (1968 – 2000)

John Sheard is a world-renowned lichenologist who has continued his active involvement in research since his retirement. He continues to serve on graduate student advisory committees 17 years after retirement. One of his crowning achievements was the publishing of his monograph on the lichen genus Rinodina, in 2010. It covers his entire career and has been widely praised: “One of the best monographs ever published in Lichenology”, “work of distinction and true scholarship”, “the single most outstanding contribution to lichen knowledge published in modern times”.

Since his retirement he has authored or co-authored four book chapters and 20 journal articles. One of these won the Edward Tuckerman Award for best paper in the field of Lichenology (American Bryological and Lichenological Society). Just this year he has two publications one of these is another epic at 111 pages.