Robert Earle Buchanan's contributions to the wider world of microbiology involve the classification of microorganisms and his activity in the expansion of the Society of American Bacteriologists. This expansion was one of the important events that led the Society to become the American Society for Microbiology, the paramount microbiology society in the world.

Buchanan was educated at Iowa State University and subsequently became a faculty member there. He received a B.S. degree in 1904, and a M.S. degree in 1906. After joining the faculty, he became the first head of the Bacteriology Department in 1910. He remained head until his retirement in 1948. He was also the first dean of Industrial Science, first dean of the Graduate College (1919-1948), and was Director of the Agriculture Experiment Station from 1933 until 1948.

In his research life, Buchanan was a microbial taxonomist, concerned with the classification of microorganisms. This interest led him to serve...