The bulk of this collection is open for research; access requires 24 hours advance notice. Some parts of this collection have restrictions to access; please consult
Papers and audiovisual materials documenting Scott Chilton’s botanical research, teaching career, and personal life. This includes notebooks, research and laboratory data, articles, news clippings, collected works, Chilton’s own writings and publications, course materials, correspondence, legal documents, slides, photographs, and VHS video recordings. The collection’s contents date from between 1917 and 2004, but the bulk of the collection dates from after the mid-1960s.
After completing his education and serving in the United States Navy, William Scott Chilton began teaching at the University of Washington. He moved to Washington University-St. Louis before beginning his employment in North Carolina State University's Botany Department in 1983. A natural products chemist, Chilton distinguished himself in research focused upon the phytochemistry, fungi, and plant-associate microbes, the structure of novel amino acids, and ethnobotanical uses of plants. He was well known for his research on a number of topics, including mushroom toxins, crown-gall metabolites, and the corn toxin DIMBOA. Chilton continued to teach and work in his phytochemistry lab after his retirement from NC State University in 2003. He died suddenly while hiking in August 2004.
William Scott Chilton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1933 and raised in the same city by his parents, a chemical engineer and an educator. He attended Duke University for his undergraduate education in chemistry, graduating summa cum laude in 1955. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Tübingen in Germany from 1955 to 1956 and served in the United States Navy from 1956 to 1959. He did graduate work at the University Illinois-Urbana, studying the structures of Neomycin antibiotics and receiving his Ph.D. in 1963. After his graduation Chilton began a professorship at the University of Washington-Seattle. He achieved the rank of full professor before moving to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1980. In 1983 Chilton moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and began his career in North Carolina State University's Botany Department.
A natural products chemist, Chilton distinguished himself in research focused upon phytochemistry, fungi, and plant-associate microbes, the structure of novel amino acids, and ethnobotanical uses of plants. He was well known for his research on a number of topics, including mushroom toxins, crown-gall metabolites, and the corn toxin DIMBOA. Chilton was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, American Society of Plant Physiologists, American Society of Pharmacognosy, American Chemical Society and North American Mycological Society.
A popular professor during his time at North Carolina State University, Chilton received the Graduate Students' Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Botany Graduate Program in 1987. He and his wife, biologist and NC State University adjunct professor Dr. Mary-Dell Chilton, supported numerous students both financially and academically. This included housing some students in their home, which they referred to as "the Chilton Hilton." Scott Chilton retired from NC State in December 2003, but continued to teach and work in his phytochemistry laboratory.
On the occasion of his retirement, Chilton and his wife established the Chilton Undergraduate Research Endowment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The endowment funds the Chilton Undergraduate Research Award, and provides financial support for outstanding students to conduct research in botanical science. He also established the Scott and Mary-Dell Chilton Library Endowment which supports the NC State University Libraries’ collections in all subjects and formats.
Chilton married his wife Mary-Dell, in Seattle, Washington, in 1966. The Chiltons had two sons, Mark and Andrew, both of whom became lawyers. In 1991 Mark was elected to the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Town Council, making him the youngest person ever to have been elected to office in North Carolina. He was subsequently elected to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in 2003 and became the mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina, in 2005.
Scott Chilton died suddenly while hiking Washington’s Mount Adams on August 5, 2004.
The Scott Chilton Papers consists of papers and audiovisual materials documenting Chilton’s botanical research, teaching career, and personal life. The Notebooks series contains Chilton’s workbooks, themed research notebooks, and bound notebooks with laboratory data kept by Chilton and his assistants. The Research and Laboratory Data Series includes electrophoresis, chromatography, and spectrometry lab data as well as research from scientific literature. The Subject Files series consists of files on various people and a wide range of scientific subjects. Chilton’s interests in phytochemistry and fungi are particularly well represented in this series. The Writings and Publications series includes items written or co-authored by Chilton, as well as several that quote or include him in their texts. Materials relating to Chilton’s teaching, advising, and other university work, such as committees and administration, are located in the Teaching and University Papers. The Organizations and Events series consists of Chilton’s materials from professional organizations and events, including newsletters, directories, and other group-related publications, materials relating to professional conferences and mushroom forays, and materials from Chilton’s service to the leadership and committees of various organizations. Papers from patent lawsuits and other legal proceedings are located in the Legal Files. The Audiovisual Materials series contains slides, photographs, negatives, and video recordings. The final series, Personal Materials, consists of correspondence, as well as materials related to his education, family, and personal interests like stamp collecting, outdoor activities, and the Pacific Northwest.
The collection’s contents date from between 1917 and 2004, but the bulk of the collection dates from after the mid-1960s.
The collection is divided into nine series:
Whenever possible, the collection’s original order and titles have been used.
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
[Identification of item], Scott Chilton Papers, MC 00375, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Donated by Mary-Dell Chilton, 2005 May 19 (Accession no. 2005-0003)
Processed by Jennifer McElroy, 2006 October
Encoded by Jennifer McElroy, 2006 October
The collection is organized into eleven principal series:
The bulk of this collection is open for research; access requires 24 hours advance notice. Some parts of this collection have restrictions to access; please consult
For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.
Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111
Phone: (919) 515-2273
[Identification of item], Scott Chilton Papers, MC 00375, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
