5/16/2017

Homer LeRoy Shantz was the Univeristy of Arizona president from 1929 to 1936. Born in Kent County, Mich., in 1876, he earned a bachelor’s degree in botany from Colorado College in 1901 and a doctorate from the University of Nebraska in 1905. He served on various U.S. and international agencies conducting botany surveys and other investigations across Latin America, Europe and Africa. Before coming to the UA, he was head of the department of botany at the University of Illinois. After his University of Arizona Presidency he worked for the Forest Service.

Short biography page from the University of Arizona - in addition to other accomplishments Shantz is notable for his early role in shaping what would eventually become Saguaro National Park.

Saved 5/14/2020

Dr. Homer L. Shantz (1876-1958) was a leading American botanist and former president of the University of Arizona. Dr. Shantz was also a remarkable photographer. He traveled widely, with an emphasis on the American West and Africa, and made documentary photographs wherever he went. Among Dr. Shantz's research interests was photographic documentation of vegetation change. He began focusing on the Arizona-Sonoran desert area intensively in 1931 and continued for about twenty-five years. Also notable in the collection are portraits of Native Americans.

Shantz was a major figure in the eventual shape of Saguaro National Park thru the creation of the University Cactus Forest.