EDITORS' NOTE: A digital image of Daniel Axelrod can be obtained by contacting Amy Rafferty, News Service, (530) 752-9836, aerafferty@ucdavis.edu. A memorial service will be held Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Recreation Pool Lodge of the University of California, Davis, for Daniel Isaac Axelrod. A UC Davis professor emeritus of botany, Axelrod died June 2 in his Davis home at the age of 87. Professor Axelrod was a renowned paleobotanist who studied the evolution of plant life, particularly the ancient forests of North America, as chronicled through the fossil record. He was an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Born on July 16, 1910, in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was the son of Russian immigrants Morris and Augusta Axelrod and the oldest of five children. He was raised in Guam and Honolulu, coming to California at the age of 14. His family settled in Oakland, and that same year, Axelrod earned his Eagle Scout badge. He worked summers delivering telegrams in San Francisco for a penny apiece, and later watched the construction of the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay bridges. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in botany and master's and doctoral degrees in botany and paleontology, all from UC Berkeley. While at the Berkeley campus he served as a junior forester, mapping vegetation in California and Nevada for the university's forest and range experiment station. In 1942 he volunteered for service in the U.S. Army and became part of the Far East Air Forces, serving in photo intelligence. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in connection with military operations in the Philippines. In 1946 he joined the geology and botany faculty at UCLA, where he would teach for 21 years. In 1967 he transferred to UC Davis, with a joint appointment in the botany and geology departments. Colleagues have noted that in an era marked by increasing specialization in science, Axelrod carried on "creatively individualistic" research, tackling broad issues in the field of paleobotany by generating research data and ideas essentially by himself. Through his studies, he reconstructed changes in western North American vegetation, climate and landscapes through the past 60 million years by interpreting fossil impressions of terrestrial seed plants. "He liked to be called 'Ax' or 'Prof Ax,' as the license plate on his white convertible reads," said Michael Barbour, a professor of botany, who recalls arriving at UC Davis the same year and in the same department as did Axelrod. "He was always part of the landscape to me -- sometimes engaging, sometimes thorny. "He would often pull me aside during a hallway or walkway encounter to relate something ecologically new that he'd seen in the field, hoping to convince me, other faculty or graduate students to drop whatever research we were currently doing in order to follow through on his observations," Barbour recalled. Axelrod's sometimes gruff, blunt demeanor was simply a bluff, Barbour said. "It was part of his sense of humor, and beyond it was a kind, generous, helpful friend," he noted. "A friend who took others on field trips to show them new things -- feeding them well at his expense -- and who shared his knowledge and his enthusiasm for life. He is a friend who suddenly is no longer there." Axelrod received numerous awards that recognized his research accomplishments, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1981. He received the Hayden Geological Award and the Outstanding Educators of America Award in 1971, the New York Botanical Garden Award in 1972 and the Palaeobotanical Society International Medal in 1985. He also was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 1986 was selected by his UC Davis colleagues as the Faculty Research Lecturer. As recently as 1993 he was presented a Merit Award from the Botanical Society of America in recognition of his "impressive contributions to botany and science in general." Professor Axelrod retired from the university in 1977, but was recalled to duty at the university as a research botanist. He remained active in his field of research until his death. His wife, Marilyn Gayler Axelrod, notes that along with a passion for his work, Axelrod highly valued family and his country. He would frequently quote the words of Abraham Lincoln, his favorite president, to underscore his own beliefs in personal freedom and the importance of sharing with those who are less fortunate. In addition to his wife, Axelrod leaves a stepdaughter, Hillary Gayler; a son, Peter Axelrod; a brother, Walter Axelrod; and a sister, Dorothy Axelrod. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial gifts be sent to the Wall of Hope Breast Cancer Survivors' Project, P.O. Box 2393, Davis, CA 95617-2393.