News

10-5-99

Contacts:
Colin Scanes, Plant Sciences Institute, (515) 294-1823
Karen Bolluyt, Agriculture, (515) 294-3701
Steve Sullivan, News Service, (515) 294-3720

ISU PLANT SCIENCES INSTITUTE RESEARCH CENTER DIRECTORS NAMED

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University faculty members have been named directors of eight research centers in the university's new Plant Sciences Institute.

The ISU Plant Sciences Institute consists of a group of research centers that focus on a variety of areas in the plant sciences, including plant genomics, designer crops, bioinformatics and gene research. The institute was recently approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, and has received more than $2 million in funding from the Iowa Legislature over the past two years.

The newly appointed directors are:

Pat Schnable, professor of agronomy, Center for Plant Genomics and Center for Plant Transformation and Gene Expression;
Jim Cornette, professor of mathematics, Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics;
Arnel Hallauer, professor of agronomy, Center for Plant Breeding;
Basil Nikolau, professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, Center for Designer Crops;
Charlotte Bronson, professor of plant pathology, Center for Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses;
Larry Johnson, professor of food science and human nutrition, Center for Crops Utilization Research;
Manjit Misra, professor of agricultural biosystems engineering, Seed Science Center.

Nikolau and Bronson are interim appointments. Johnson and Misra are on-going appointments as the Center for Crops Utilization Research and the Seed Science Center are long-established ISU research centers.

Colin Scanes, executive associate dean of the Iowa State University College of Agriculture, was recently appointed interim director of the ISU Plant Sciences Institute.

Schnable joined the ISU faculty in 1988 as an assistant professor of zoology and genetics. He was appointed professor of agronomy and zoology and genetics in 1998. He has written extensively on plant genetic issues.

Jim Cornette has been a member of the ISU faculty since 1962. He was named a University Professor in 1998. Cornette's research focuses the use of mathematical biology tools in gene research.

Arnel Hallauer joined the ISU faculty in 1990. He was named the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture in 1991. Hallauer worked for several years as a research geneticist for the Agriculture Research Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1989.

Basil Nikolau joined the ISU faculty in 1988. He was named professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology and professor of food science and human nutrition in 1998. He has done extensive work in plant genetic research.

Charlotte R. Bronson joined the ISU faculty in 1982 and was named a professor of plant pathology in 1999. Her research has focused on soybean diseases.

Lawrence Johnson joined the ISU faculty in 1985. He was named professor of food science and human nutrition and professor-in-charge of the ISU Center for Crops Utilization Research in 1988. Johnson's work has focused on soybean oil, corn gluten and other grains.

Manjit K. Misra joined the ISU faculty in 1979. He was named director of the ISU Seed Science Center in 1991. Misra specializes in application of new and emerging technologies to agriculture equipment, and developed a device that measures soybean quality.

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