Asa Gray (1810-1888), one of America's leading botanists in the mid-19th century, was appointed Fisher professor of natural history in 1841 at Harvard University and created the Gray Herbarium at Harvard. Gray advised the United States National Museum at its inception. A close friend of the first Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry, he was appointed Smithsonian Regent in 1874 and served until his death in 1888. In this image, Gray does not have a beard.