Carlos Eugenio Chardón, the first Puerto Rican mycologist, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1897. After studying at the University of Mayagüez in Puerto Rico, he went to Cornell University, graduating in 1919 and a Master's degree in 1921, studying with Professor H. H. Whetzel on phytopathology, mycology, and diseases of sugar cane. He returned to Puerto Rico in 1921 and discovered the role of aphids in spreading sugar cane mosaic. He served as Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor until 1931 when he was named Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, the first Puerto Rican to hold that position. In 1935, he initiated the Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration, a New Deal agency, which became known as the "Plan Chardón." He later helped in agricultural and economic development in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Iran and held positions as director of the Land Authority (1940) and theTropical Agricultural Institute (1942). He conducted expeditions, explorations, and surveys in Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic over much of his lifetime. He died in Rio Piedras in 1965.