Ithaca, New York
July 23, 2002
For developing the ringspot
virus-resistant papaya that saved the Hawaiian papaya industry,
Dennis Gonsalves, the former
Cornell University Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of plant
pathology, and his research team will receive the prestigious
2002 Alexander von Humboldt Award for Agriculture.
The research team includes Richard Manshardt of the University
of Hawaii, Maureen Fitch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and Jerry Slightom of Pharmacia-Upjohn Co.
Representatives of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation will
present the award during a ceremony to be held Nov. 4 at
Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in
Geneva, N.Y.
"It is somewhat unique that a group of scientists from different
institutions and different expertise worked together early on to
use a very new technology to develop and implement a timely
solution for
a severe agricultural problem in Hawaii," said Gonsalves.
After 25 years with the experiment station, Gonsalves recently
left Cornell to become the director of the USDA's Pacific Basin
Agricultural Research Center in Hilo, Hawaii. The papaya project
was the culmination of more than two decades of research. It
resulted in two disease-resistant varieties, Rainbow and SunUp,
that were subsequently released to growers in 1998. This gave
the $45 million
Hawaiian papaya industry a second chance.
"The efforts of the team clearly portray the potential benefits
of biotechnology in agriculture and have led to further
scientific discoveries that will impact the development of
disease resistance in
other valuable crops throughout the world," said Susan A. Henry,
the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Cornell's College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences. "The course they followed through the
development, testing and commercialization processes has
received national and international recognition. Their work
certainly represents one of the great success stories in
American agriculture."
Named in honor of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century
German naturalist and geographer, the award is presented
annually to the person or team judged to have made the most
significant contribution to American agriculture during the
previous five years. The team will receive a $15,000 award, a
medallion and certificate. In addition the foundation has
awarded Cornell a $5,000 Alfred Toepfer scholarship, which will
be given to a Cornell student for agricultural studies in
Germany.
Previous Cornell recipients of the award include Steven D.
Tanksley, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of plant breeding, and
Wendell Roelofs, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of insect
biochemistry and chair of the entomology department at the
Geneva experiment station.
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