The highest honor given by the Society for In Vitro Biology is the Lifetime Achievement Award.  It is presented to scientists who are considered pioneers or highly influential researchers to the science and art of cell culture.  They are men and women who have devoted their careers to exemplary research and/or teaching.  The recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award are selected by vote of the Board of Directors from a list of nominations recommended by the Awards Committee.  The Society for In Vitro Biology honored Dr.Wilf Keller, Dr. Peggy Lemaux, and Dr. Donald Ingber with SIVB Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2010 In Vitro Biology Meeting.  This issue highlights Dr. Peggy Lemaux’s career.  Dr. Wilf Keller’s and Dr. Donald Ingber’s careers will be highlighted in a future issue of the In Vitro Report.  

010 SIVB Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Peggy G. Lemaux

Dr. Peggy Lemaux received the Society for In Vitro Biology Lifetime Achievement Award at the Society’s 2010 annual meeting in Saint Louis, Missouri. Peggy’s contributions to the field of In Vitro Biology have been tremendous.  Peggy’s career has spanned a unique blend of research, teaching and mentoring, and outreach.  Peggy’s educational training was in the areas of microbiology, chemistry, and immunology; however, she transitioned to plant biology later in her career.  She received her B.A. in microbiology/chemistry from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1968.   She received her M.S. degree from the University of Michigan in 1969 in microbiology/immunology, and her Ph.D. degree also from the University of Michigan in 1977 in immunology.  Between her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, she worked as a Research Assistant at Upjohn in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Following her PhD, she was a staff Associate at the Carnegie Institution in Stanford, California.  Following her position at Carnegie, she took a position at DEKALB/Pfizer Genetics, in Groton, Connecticut, in 1987.  This role was her transition to plant science and plant tissue culture, and she never looked back.  In 1991, Peggy moved to the University of California at Berkeley where she currently resides.  At Berkeley she has served in Cooperative Extension Specialist roles from 1991-present, and has served as Associate Director, University of California Systemwide Biotechnology Research and Education Program (1994-1995) and Chair, University of California Division of Agriculture and Biotechnology Workgroup (1999-present).

Very soon after her transition to plant biology, Peggy was a key member and leader of the DEKALB/Pfizer corn research team, which was the first group to publish successful transformation of corn in the Plant Cell in 1990.  Peggy’s technical leadership contributed significantly to bringing together diverse pieces of a complex puzzle which included choice of the appropriate selectable marker gene, development of DNA delivery methodology, and development of in vitro culture techniques for corn.  The result of this effort was the one of the most significant and highly cited crop transformation publications to date (Gordon-Kamm et al., 1990) and a long list of patents that ultimately significantly contributed to the intellectual property portfolio of DEKALB and Monsanto (acquired DEKALB in 1998).

In 1991, Peggy moved on to the University of California at Berkeley to serve in Cooperative Extension Specialist roles that have included significant outreach, teaching and research activities.  Peggy’s outreach activities have spanned participation on a multitude of advisory committees as well as a very impressive list of publications directed at education at all levels of technical understanding of the issues around Agricultural Biotechnology.  Peggy’s outreach efforts have targeted US and international audiences including colleagues, the press, teachers, food professionals, farmers, organic gardeners, agricultural commissioners, and farm bureau personnel.  Peggy’s efforts have impacted public understanding of the issues and policy decisions at the government level.  In addition to talks and publications, Peggy has leveraged many different media to communicate her messages including radio, television and the internet.

Peggy’s teaching responsibilities at Berkeley have included teaching undergraduate courses such as “Modern Applications of Plant Biotechnology”.  She has mentored dozens of undergraduates, and sponsored numerous graduate students and post docs in her laboratory.  Her mentoring effort is manifested in her impressive research publication record.

Peggy’s contributions to research in the field of In Vitro Biology during her years at Berkeley have been significant.  She has developed effective methods for transforming multiple important monocot species including barley, wheat, rice, oats, maize, sorghum, and several turf and forage grass species.   This work has manifested in a multitude of important publications including the first report of successful transformation of barley and multiple publications on improvements and parameters affecting successful sorghum, barley and maize transformation.    The major goal of Peggy’s current laboratory research on cereals is three-fold: (a) utilizing new genomics tools to unravel complex pathways and identify genes of interest for crop improvement, (b) overcoming the remaining challenges for genetic engineering of cereals and (c) creating new value-added cereals.   The lab currently uses these approaches to address basic and applied questions including questions relating to in planta and in vitro plant development related to gene function in barley and introduction of value-added genes.  One specific area of applied interest is the over-expression of elements of the NADP-thioredoxin system to improve cereal grains, including barley, wheat, rice and sorghum.  These efforts are directed to changing the grain’s germination properties, allergenicity, dough-making characteristics and digestibility.

Peggy’s publication record is quite impressive; she has published over 90 research articles related to Plant Biotechnology and In Vitro Biology.  Peggy’s research is internationally recognized, particularly relative to her work with barley and sorghum; her outreach activities are widely recognized as well.  She was honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science by being selected as an AAAS fellow in 2002.  She was also selected as the triennial recipient of the Dennis R. Hoagland Award by the American Society of Plant Biology in 2003 for outstanding contributions to agriculture.  She was selected as a fellow in the Crop Science Society of America in 2007, and selected as a fellow in the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2009.

 
Submitted by T. Michael Spencer

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