Department of Biology

Col. Floyd. Courtesy of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Collection, McKay Archives, Florida Southern College

Bayard Franklin Floyd (1882-1945) earned an A.B. in Botany from Indiana University in 1905 and an A.M., in Botany, from the University of Missouri in 1907. His wife, Dixie Westlake Floyd (1881-1955), was also a student at the University of Missouri, and the two were married on June 29, 1910.

After earning his Master’s degree, Floyd was hired as a plant physiologist at the Florida Agricultural Experimental Station, working there from 1910 – 1917, when he left to serve in the U.S. Army during World War I, earning the rank of Colonel. He returned to the Florida Agricultural Experimental Station, (now called the Citrus Research and Education Center), and worked as a plant physiologist there until 1920. Floyd was well known for his research on fertilization methods of citrus trees in Florida soils and contributed significantly to the Florida citrus industry when he discovered that the state’s trees were suffering from copper deficiency, resulting in die-back. In 1921, he was named vice-president of the Wilson and Toomer Fertilizer Company, a position he held until his death on November 8, 1945.

Floyd served as Secretary of the Florida State Horticultural Society for 27 years. He also served on the Research Advisory Committee of the Florida Citrus Commission and on the Florida Agricultural Research Bureau. Floyd was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a member of the American Society of Plant Physiology, the American Chemical Society, and the American Society of Agronomy. He was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 1962.

His wife created the Colonel Bayard Franklin Floyd Memorial Fund via a bequest made at the time of her death, and this award is funded from that bequest.