Don Auger
Dr. Auger received his Ph.D. from the Univesity of North Dakota advised by
Dr. William Sheridan and did his postdoc at the University of Missouri, Columbia
with Dr. James Birchler. For the past two-decades, he served as a Professor at
South Dakota State University. Over his career, Dr. Auger imparted his love of
maize genetics to thousands of undergraduate and graduate students through his
genetics courses and has been recognized numerous times at the university and
national level for teaching and mentoring. As part of the maize community, Dr.
Auger contributed towards the understanding of perennialism in Zea diploperennis,
the effect of gene dosage on heterosis and polyploidy, and of mutations that affect
the gametophyte generation in maize. Dr. Auger passed away on January 7th, 2021.
Don was a beloved fixture at the Maize Meeting, having attended more than thirty
meetings.
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Ronald Phillips
Dr. Phillips received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is a Regents
Professor Emeritus and former McKnight Presidential Chair in Genomics at the
University of Minnesota, having spent his career as a faculty member in the
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. Dr. Phillips is widely recognized for
his seminal work in plant tissue culture which supported the biotechnology
revolution. Dr. Phillips had a major impact on the careers of many scientists
including the 55 graduate students and 23 postdoctoral scientists he advised.
Dr. Phillips was dedicated to serving and growing the community. Among numerous
activities, he served as Chief Scientist of the USDA (1996-1998) in charge of the
National Reserach Initiative Competitive Grants Program, chaired the Interagency
Working Group that developed the plan for the Plant Genome Research Initiative and
held leadership roles in the Maize Genetics community and the Crop Science Society
of America. He received many awards during his career including election to the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences.
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William Sheridan
Dr. Sheridan received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, and followed this
with research at Yale, the University of Missouri, and ultimately at the University
of North Dakota, where he is the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Biology.
Dr. Sheridan did pioneering work studying histones and the synaptonemal complex in
lilies and maize. He also made major contributions in the genetic and developmental
analyses of defective kernel mutations with regards to the endosperm and the embryo,
and helped define the early stages of their development in maize. Additionally, Dr.
Sheridan identified and studied mutations essential for the genetic control of
meiosis. For over two decades, he organized the program and served on the Maize
Genetics Meeting steering committee. He was editor for the key community reference
book "Maize for Biological Research" and fostered a unique exchange with Russian
scientists in the 1990s. Dr. Sheridan is an incredible collaborator and mentor for
scientists, he epitomizes the combination of excellence in research with the building
of an open community, where everyone can thrive.
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