The Dan H. Nicolson Fund
IAPT's Dan H. Nicolson Fund supports the Nicolson Research Award, awarded annually by IAPT to support research that emphasizes nomenclatural and herbarium work.
Until his death in 2016, Dan H. Nicolson contributed to IAPT and its mission in numerous ways for over five decades.
Dan was widely known for his systematic work on the tropical plant family Araceae, and as one of the foremost specialists on botanical nomenclature. His expertise was widely sought for decades throughout the botanical community.
He served on numerous IAPT committees, including the Editorial Committee of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature for five editions of the Code (1981-2007), the General Committee (1981-2000), the Spermatophyta Committee (1975-1987; 2001-date), Committee on Typification of Generic Names (1978-1981), and Committee on Orthography (1981-1987). He was Vice-President of the Bureau of Nomenclature for the 1987 International Botanical Congress (Berlin), and President in 1999 (St. Louis) and 2005 (Vienna).
He was the Nomenclature Editor of TAXON for two decades (1979-1999). He also served extensively as an IAPT officer including Vice President (1985-1993) and President (1993-1999).
An outstanding contribution to knowledge of the Forsters and the botany of the second Cook Expedition was recognized by receiving the IAPT Stafleu Medal for 2004. Dan also worked with Larry Dorr to complete the final two supplements of TL-II, bringing this monumental and extremely important research tool to completion.
Dan always had a strong interest in helping others; he probably helped more taxonomists with nomenclatural problems on a one-to-one basis than anyone else. Over his long career he advised colleagues worldwide on hundreds, if not thousands, of nomenclatural problems and puzzles; his personality and scholarly interest in solving these led him to further the whole field of botanical nomenclature.
The Dan H. Nicolson Fund was established in 2008, and the Dan Nicolson Research Award has supported students and early-career researchers since 2013.