Thomas Norwood\u00a0Taylor\u00a0was born in\u00a0Lakewood, OH and\u00a0received his bachelor\u2019s\u00a0degree at Miami\u00a0University of Ohio, where\u00a0he majored in botany\u00a0(minor in geology) and played on the golf team.\u00a0He received his Ph.D. in\u00a0palaeobotany from the\u00a0University of Illinois\u00a0(1964) and went to Yale on\u00a0a National Science\u00a0Foundation (NSF)\u00a0postdoctoral fellowship. \u00a0He served on the faculty\u00a0at the University of\u00a0Illinois, Chicago; Ohio\u00a0University; and Ohio State\u00a0University, where he was\u00a0also chair of the Plant\u00a0Biology Department. He\u00a0came to University of Kansas in 1995 as a\u00a0Distinguished Professor of\u00a0Ecology & Evolutionary\u00a0Biology and Curator of\u00a0Paleobotany in the\u00a0Biodiversity Institute. He\u00a0was elected to the\u00a0National Academy of\u00a0Sciences in 1994 and was\u00a0appointed by the\u00a0President to the National\u00a0Science Board (2006-2012).<\/p>\n
Thomas received\u00a0numerous awards in his\u00a0profession for his research, leadership, and\u00a0teaching; served on local,\u00a0state, national and\u00a0international committees;\u00a0volunteered for numerous\u00a0administrative tasks\u00a0throughout his career; and\u00a0specialized in helping\u00a0young faculty get funding\u00a0for their research. His\u00a0research was supported\u00a0by the NSF for more than\u00a050 years. He published 14\u00a0books and edited volumes,\u00a0including textbooks, and\u00a0more than 450 journal articles and book\u00a0chapters. He loved\u00a0fieldwork and collected\u00a0fossil plants on 6\u00a0continents, including\u00a0Antarctica. Tom truly\u00a0loved his chosen\u00a0profession, palaeobotany,\u00a0and made friends all over the world who will greatly\u00a0miss him and his support\u00a0and friendship.\u00a0He is survived by\u00a0Edie, his wife of 30 years\u00a0and the love of his life, 6 children and 14 grandchildren. Tom loved his job, his\u00a0family, his cats and golf.\u00a0He had a large heart and was quietly generous of his time and resources to his family, friends, colleagues, charities and even total strangers.<\/p>\n
Please also read the\u00a0Thomas Norwood Taylor (1938\u20132016) <\/span><\/a>written by Christine Strullu-Derrien and Paul Kenrick:<\/p>\n