Department History

Our Department Timelines

  • Pictorial timeline (1880s to 2017)
  • Timeline table (below)

   

   

UK Department of Plant Pathology Timeline

1865• UK founded as Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) College of Kentucky University
1885• Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station established.
1886• Bulletin #8.  Wheat smut caused much damage.  Scoville, Spurr, and Brewer.
1889• Harrison Garman appointed Entomologist and Botanist (retired, ca. 1929).  Work included disease diagnosis, pathogen identification and management  recommendations.    
1908• College of Agriculture founded
1910• Agricultural Extension Service established in KY, one of the first in the U.S.
1918• M. Roe appointed as Assistant Plant Pathologist, in Department of Agronomy (one year appointment).
1919• WD Valleau* appointed first Professor of Plant Pathology, in Agronomy (retired, 1961).  
1923• E. Johnson appointed Assistant Plant Pathologist (retired, 1966).
1931• L. Henson appointed (retired, 1974).
1936• H. Thornberry appointed (resigned, 1937).
• Plant pathologists moved from basement of Agricultural Experiment Station Building to new Tobacco Research Laboratory.
1937• Stephen Diachun* appointed (retired, 1978).
1950• Richard Chapman appointed (retired, 1984).
1953• Granville Stokes appointed; became Associate Director of Ag Experiment Station, 1966 (retired, ca. 1993).
1960• Raymond Hampton appointed (resigned, 1970).
1962• R. Reinert appointed (resigned, 1967).
• Christopher Litton (USDA-ARS; Research Specialist) transferred from Agronomy to Plant Pathology, (retired, ca. 1987). Assistant Professor 1963-1966.  
• Ph.D. offered in Biology with Plant Pathology “cooperating”.
1963• Department of Plant Pathology established with Richard Chapman as chairman.
• John Oswald* appointed University President and Professor of Plant Pathology.
1964• Plant Pathology moved from the Tobacco Research Laboratory to the Agricultural Science Center - North building.
• James Hendrix appointed (retired, 2004).
1965• C. Yang appointed (resigned, 1972).
• First Ph.D.’s (in Biology, Plant Pathology cooperating).
1966• Malcolm Siegel* appointed (retired, 1998).
1967• Ph.D. program in Plant Pathology established.
• Harry Wheeler* appointed (retired, 1984).
• Thomas Pirone* appointed (retired, 2001).
1968• First Ph.D.’s (in Plant Pathology).
• Stephen Diachun became chairman.
• John Shaw* appointed (retired, 2000).
• Albert Williams appointed (transferred to Department of Horticulture and  Landscape Architecture, as chairman, 1975).        
1971• John Hartman* appointed (retired, 2011).
1972• Said Ghabrial* appointed (retired, 2013).
• Louis Shain appointed (retired, 1999).
1974• Joseph Kuc* appointed (retired, 1995).
1975• Shuh-Ji Sheen transferred from Agronomy (retired, 1991).
• Richard Stuckey appointed (resigned, 1989).
1977• First full-time plant disease diagnostician hired
1978• Thomas Pirone became chairman.
• Richard Ferriss appointed (resigned, 1991).
1979• William Nesmith appointed (retired, 2004).
• David Smith appointed (retired, 2012).
1982• Wayne Wilcox appointed (resigned, 1984); first Plant Pathology faculty member at Research and Education Center, Princeton.
1984• Donald Hershman appointed; Research and Education Center, Princeton.
• Robert Shepherd* appointed (retired, 1996).
1985• Christopher Schardl* appointed.
1986• David Smith became chairman.
1989• W. Walla appointed; served solely as Associate Dean for Extension (retired, 2001).
1990• Paul Vincelli appointed.
1993•  S. He appointed (resigned, 1995).
1996• Lisa Vaillancourt appointed; first female faculty member.
1997• Mark Farman appointed.
1999• Peter Nagy appointed.
2002• Michael Goodin appointed.
• Pradeep Kachroo appointed.
2003• Plant Pathology moved from Ag Science-North to the Plant Science Building.
2005• Kenneth Seebold, Jr. appointed (resigned, 2014).
• Doctoral program ranked #1 in nation in Academic Analytics’ Faculty  Scholarly Productivity Index.
2006• Aardra Kachroo appointed.
2010• Again, ranked #1 by Academic Analytics.
2011• Christopher Schardl became chairman.
• Nicole Ward (Gauthier) appointed.
2015• Emily Pfeufer appointed
• Carl Bradley appointed at Princeton
• Tyler Dreaden, USDA FS, appointed Adjunct Professor
2016• Robert Louis Hirsch appointed Lecturer
2107• Kiersten Wise appointed at Princeton

*Fellow of American Phytopathological Society