WESLACO - One of the citrus industry’s most productive and beloved scientific researchers was honored with the prestigious Arthur T. Potts Award recently at the annual meeting of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Horticultural Society.
Dr. J. Victor French, a citrus research entomologist at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center at Weslaco since 1973, was honored by the society for his outstanding contributions to area horticulture.
French said he developed a love for agriculture on his grandfather’s potato and sugar beet farm in Colorado and was nudged toward the study of insects by an uncle.
“I remember soldiers coming to my grandfather’s farm during World War II to pick crops for the troops stationed near Colorado Springs,” he said. “But it was an uncle who suggested to me that being an entomologist would be an interesting living because it would involve working both indoors and outdoors and not stuck in an office somewhere.”
College professors further piqued his interest.
“We had one college professor who taught entomology that would walk into class wearing a hat and tie,” French said. ” After lecturing for a while, he would lift his tie to reveal a hissing cockroach perched on his shirt. Students sitting up front, especially the girls, would quickly run to the back of the room. Then a while later, he would remove his hat to reveal a big “pet” tarantula that had been sitting on his bald head that whole time.”
French earned his bachelor’s degree in entomology and a masters degree in entomology and plant pathology at Colorado State University. After turning down a job scouting barley fields for Coors Brewery, he moved west with his bride, Lee Ann, where he worked as a research technician at the University of California at Riverside. Here, said French, he developed a love for citrus research.
After seven years in California, French and his wife moved to Michigan State University where he earned his doctorate in entomology. He then landed a job at the then-Texas A&I Citrus Center at Weslaco, where he remains today.
Over the years, French has been promoted to full professor, served as interim director of the Citrus Center from 1994 to 1995, discovered and reported six new Texas citrus pests and led research to register several new chemical products to treat mite and insect infestations in citrus orchards.
“I went back to Colorado for a high school reunion recently,” said French, “and former classmates asked when I was going to hang em up. But why should I retire when I’m still having so much fun and enjoy what I’m doing?”
French credits his two long-time lab technicians, Jim Villarreal and Dan Davila, for his success, as well as an excellent working relationship with administrators, ag chemical companies, local citrus growers and colleagues at state and federal research agencies.
“Citrus researchers who come to visit are envious of the 250 to 300 acres of research farm land that this center has on which to do our research,” French said. “In Florida, especially, scientists have to set up contracts with local growers to do research on their land, which cuts into the research funds that you have available. Here, each scientist has his own citrus blocks in which to do research. But I still have a great time talking with local growers and visiting their orchards to help them solve pest problems.”
French says his only gripe is the lack of additional trained entomologists to help handle the heavy workload brought on by a seemingly never-ending invasion of new insect and mite pests to area orchards.
French’s wife, Lee Ann, is a microbiologist who now teaches science at the Teachers Academy in Edinburg. They live in McAllen and have two children, Jeannine, a speech pathologist at the Heart Hospital in Houston, and Derek, a college student.
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