Helen Hart (plant pathologist)

In the summer of 1922, after facing initial discouragement from Elvin C. Stakman, chair of the Department of Plant Pathology, Hart began to work towards her master's degree as a laboratory assistant at the university farm. Hart focused her master's research on flax rust, specifically the environmental influences on the life cycle of the fungus that causes it. She earned her master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1924, after which she began work as a part-time instructor in the Department of Plant Pathology. For the next four years, Hart performed research focused on how the structure of wheat plant tissues relates to the morphology of the stem rust pathogen.

Hunt successfully presented her doctoral dissertation, titled "Morphological and Physiological Studies on Stem Rust Resistance in Wheat" in 1929 and was awarded her Ph.D. In 1931, her dissertation was published in the U.S.D.A. Technical Bulletin.^[5] In 1933, Helen Hart became a full-time instructor. She became a full-time professor in 1947 and Professor Emeritus in 1966. In 1955, Hart became the first woman president of the American Phytopathological Society. She was also elected as the first woman Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 1965.^[6][3]

She died in 1971 at Grants Pass, Oregon.

• Helen Hart papers, University Archives, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/14/resources/1172 Accessed March 7, 2019. Contains reports, charts, and maps related to Dr. Hart's research on plant rusts.
• Kurt Gegenhuber (2006). "Helen Hart: the First Woman President of The American Phytopathological Society" APSnet Features. doi: 10.1094/APSnetFeature-2006-0306