Carlene Allen "Cardy" Raper (January 9, 1925 – September 5, 2019) was an American mycologist and science writer.^[1] She identified that the fungus Schizophyllum commune has over 23,000 mating types. She is regarded as one of the first women taxonomists in mycology.^[2] She was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Early life and education

Raper wanted to be a scientist from the age of eight.^[3] She earned a master's degree in science at the University of Chicago in 1946.^[4][5] She worked on Achlya and Schizophyllum commune.^[6] She married her college supervisor, John (Red) Raper, in 1949.^[7] She earned her PhD in 1977.

Career

Raper worked alongside her husband, Red Raper, on the mating-type mutants of Schizophyllum.^[6] Her husband was chair of the biology department at Harvard University when he died in 1974.^[8][9] After this, Cardy Raper began her formal career in science, working at Harvard University as a researcher and lecturer from 1974.^[10] She worked in the Netherlands at the University of Hagen with Jos Wessels.^[6] In 1978 she joined Wellesley College as an assistant professor.^[10] After spending the summer of 1982 working with Bob Ullrich at the University of Vermont, she decided to move there.^[11] In 1983 she set up her own independent research laboratory the University of Vermont.^[10][12] She remained there as an emeritus professor after her retirement in 1994. Raper identified that Schizophyllum commune had more than 23,000 mating types.^[6] In 2008 there was a celebration of her contributions to science.^[13] In 2012 she was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.^[14][15]

In 2017 she spoke at the Burlington Writers Workshop.^[16] Her son, Jonathan Raper, is a professor of cell biology at the University of Pennsylvania.^[17] She and Red Raper also had a daughter, Linda.^[5] Raper died after a brief illness at her summer home in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, on September 5, 2019, at the age of 94.

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