Three named Fellows in rare move by American Phytopathological Society

           COLLEGE STATION — Three Texas A&M University plant pathology and microbiology faculty members have been elected Fellows of the American Phytopathological Society.

           Drs. Charles Kenerley, Leland “Sandy” Pierson III and Karen-Beth Goldberg Scholthof were honored during the society’s recent annual meeting in Pasadena, California.

           “It is rare to have three APS Fellows from the same institution, and extremely rare to have three named all in the same year,” said society president Dr. Rick Bennett, who also is director of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. “Texas A&M should be extremely proud.”

           The society, with over 4,000 members in almost 100 countries, represents a broad section of the scientific community focused on all aspects of plant health and plant-microbe interactions. The society also encompasses teaching, research, industry, government and private consulting, according to Bennett.

           Kenerley joined the plant pathology department at Texas A&M in 1983 after completing his doctorate at North Carolina State University. His main area of research has been on “the molecular biology of Trichoderma virens, an important fungal biological control agent that is effective in suppressing plant pathogens,” according to the citation.  

           “His studies of fungi are extensive and range from field ecology and control to fungal genomics and other molecular mechanisms,” the society noted. “His accomplishments show how scientific knowledge and creativity lead to discoveries that enhance plant health.”

           Kenerley also holds a bachelor’s from North Carolina State University and a master’s from Washington State University.

           Pierson became the head of the plant pathology and microbiology department at Texas A&M in 2009 after serving as a professor and associate director of the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona.

           He was called a “pioneer in defining the role of phenazines in rhizosphere microbial communities and biocontrol (and) recognized worldwide as an innovative scientist who is an authority on quorum sensing, secondary metabolite production and other attributes beneficial to the success of microbial populations in the plant rhizosphere.”

           Pierson earned a bachelor’s from the University of California-Davis and a doctorate from Washington State University, and was a postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service.

           Scholthof joined the plant pathology and microbiology department at Texas A&M in 1994, after a National Institutes of Health postdoc fellowship at the University of California-Berkeley.

           She was cited by the society as one who “has made numerous innovative research contributions to plant virology, is an accomplished teacher and has made many substantive service contributions to” the society.

           Scholthof’s research as a plant virologist has brought her international recognition, and she was called “a remarkable scientist who has achieved scholarly excellence in multiple areas.”

           She holds a bachelor’s from Montana State University, a master’s from the University of Nebraska and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky.