Rate My Professor Ronald Petersen

Ronald H. Petersen is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Born in 1934, he earned a B.A. in Plant Biology and Botany from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Biology from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in Research Mycology, specializing in the Systematics and Evolution of Basidiomycotina, from Columbia University in 1961. His long career at UTK, spanning departments of Botany and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has been dedicated to advancing mycology. Research interests include fungal biology, fungal diversity, fungal taxonomy, molecular mycology, fungal ecology, mushroom science, mycology, fungi, and fungal mating systems, with particular emphasis on higher fungi in Agaricales and Basidiomycotina, including genera such as Ramaria, Flammulina, and Omphalotus. His office is located at 437 Hesler Biology Building.

Petersen held the position of Editor-in-Chief of the journal Mycologia from 1986 to 1990 and served as principal investigator for the NSF PEET grant on monographic research in higher fungi (Agaricales and Boletales). He has produced 358 publications, accumulating over 4,625 citations on ResearchGate. Notable works include the book William Alphonso Murrill: The Naturalist (2024), "The mycological legacy of Elias Magnus Fries" (IMA Fungus, 2015), "Species and Speciation in Mushrooms" (BioScience, 1999), "Mating systems in Omphalotus (Paxillaceae, Agaricales)" (Mycologia, 1993), "Mating systems in the Xerulaceae (Agaricales, Basidiomycotina)," "Two new species of Ramaria from Arkansas" (2009), and "Metacampanella gen. nov.: The Campanella dendrophora complex" (Mycoscience, 2024). His personal collections account for 19% of the over 80,000 specimens in the University of Tennessee Fungal Collection (TENN-F), officially dedicated in his and Karen W. Hughes's honor in 2026 for profoundly shaping modern mycology. Through publications, grants, editorial roles, and mentorship, Petersen has exerted lasting influence on fungal systematics, evolution, and taxonomy.