Chitwood was a pioneering nematologist, hired by N. A. Cobb in 1928 to work with the USDA Bureau of Plant Industry. One of Chitwood’s greatest contributions to nematology was his book, An Introduction to Nematology, written with his wife, M. B. Chitwood, and released in 1937. Additional volumes followed in 1938, 1940, and 1941. These books served as the first major teaching tools for nematology students worldwide. Chitwood also revised the taxonomy of the root-knot nematode and, while working with the USDA in New York, identified Globodera rostochiensis on Long Island, naming it the “golden nematode.”
(Submitted for publication in July 2008.)
