John Thomas Baldwin

During the 1947–48 US Economic Mission to Liberia Baldwin discovered that Strophanthus sarmentosus was a natural source of the steroid hormone cortisone and it was subsequently used for the manufacture of drugs.

[1] John Thomas Baldwin Junior was born on September 5, 1910, in Chase City, Virginia.

[2] He was a graduate of the College of William & Mary and received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Virginia.

[2][3] Baldwin also studied at Cornell University and joined the faculty of the College of William & Mary in 1937 as an instructor.

[2] Baldwin returned to the College of William & Mary in 1946 as a professor, a position he would hold for the rest of his life.

Baldwin discovered that Strophanthus sarmentosus was a natural source of the steroid hormone cortisone.

[5] Baldwin obtained seeds of the Metasequoia (Dawn redwood) tree whilst travelling in Belgium.

[2] After Baldwin's death, botanists at the college worked to identify all of the plants in his collection and to organise his records.