Chicita Francis Culberson (née Forman; Fig. 1) was born on November 1, 1931, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the world's leading lichen chemist for many decades, and served as a role model for women botanists everywhere at a time when few women entered our field. A warm, soft-spoken person with a keen intellect and meticulous eye, Chicita died at the age of 91 on March 5, 2023, in Durham, North Carolina