HSU Alum Timothy Baroni ('72, '74), an international expert in the field of mycology, has been appointed a Distinguished Professor, one rank above Full Professor, by the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Cortland. It is the highest academic rank in the SUNY.
Dr. Baroni is credited with describing 63 new species during his 30-year career and is co-author of a book with his HSU mentor, David L. Largent, titled "How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus VI: the Modern Genera." It is considered one of the most significant references in the field and was published in 1988.
A SUNY Cortland faculty member since 1980, Dr. Baroni specializes in tropical mycology and is a world authority on the diversity and systematics of macrofungi.
A Harvard expert, Donald H. Pfister, praises Professor Baroni's work as truly exceptional. To describe previously unknown species and make 27 new combinations of fungi, he said, "one must know the group of organisms well through extensive museum studies and field work, have an excellent knowledge of the descriptive literature, and construct the descriptions, including the Latin text, to assure valid publication. This is precise, detailed, and scholarly work and Baroni excels at it."
Dr. Baroni worked as a cryptogamic botanist at Harvard in 1979-1980. Throughout this teaching career, he has continued Humboldt State's emphasis on undergraduate research, mentoring his Cortland students in independent study and research projects. He is the director and head curator of the internationally recognized SUNY Cortland Herbarium, which now houses more than 8,000 fungal collections.
Dr. Baroni was born in nearby Fort Bragg and reared in Mendocino before earning his bachelor's and master's degrees at HSU. He received his doctoral degree in botany and mycology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.