Thomas L. German (1941-2023)

Le résumé fourni par la source

The world lost an extraordinary vector biologist and molecular plant virologist, friend, and colleague when Thomas L. German died suddenly on 27 August 2023. Tom made seminal contributions to the field of RNA biology, plant virology, and vector biology as a scientist and mentor. He was a skilled administrator, leading two different academic units as chair and serving as director of the Wisconsin Seed Potato Program at the University of Wisconsin (UW)–Madison. Tom was the quintessential mentor, guiding people at all stages of life and career, always finding time to listen intently and provide sage advice. He was a dear friend to many, an outstanding colleague known as a passionate scientist who believed deeply in the power of science and education to address the dramatic problems of the modern world. He is profoundly missed and his absence will be felt by his friends and colleagues in the scientific community for years to come. Tom loved dogs and had many epic canine companions over the years, most recently his beloved dog Ruby, and he was a skilled and avid outdoorsman. He loved the Badgers and the Green Bay Packers, following their games with contagious excitement. Among his great joys was the music of the Grateful Dead, and he enjoyed their songs at great volume. While he was a dedicated “Deadhead,” he loved many forms of music, from rock to bluegrass to opera. Tom enjoyed talking with young people and mentoring them, especially in the fields of science. He shared his joy of discovery, his love of science, and his experiences in creating a successful career. Many of his mentees, drawn by his kind and compassionate ability to listen, reached out to him as they faced personal traumas and challenges. He never turned anyone away, and he always gave sound advice. He kept in touch with his mentees, including early-career faculty, postdocs, graduate, and undergraduate students. Tom and his wife, Mary Diezel, were known to host wonderful holiday events and other more informal gatherings at their farm in Hollandale, Wisconsin. Tom had the gift of making those he cared about feel that they were extraordinary and special, such that many people would say after his passing that he was their best friend. Without question, Tom was an academic father to many, and Tom and Mary were always inclusive and welcoming to new members of this chosen family. Tom hunting pheasants with Ruby. Thomas L. German was born in Aurora, Illinois, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He received a B.S. degree in zoology (1963) at the UW–Madison and a degree in secondary education (biology and chemistry) from UW–Eau Claire (1965). He taught high school biology in Milwaukee (1966–1968), after which he completed his M.S. degree in biological sciences at Michigan State University in East Lansing in less than one year (1968). German’s fascination with viruses led to his Ph.D. degree in plant pathology (UW–Madison, 1974). German’s interest in plant and animal viruses led to several post-doctoral projects with leaders in virology, including William Dawson (1974–1975), Timothy Hall (1976–1979), Richard Marsh (1980–1983), and Gus de Zoetan (1983–1985). Among his early accomplishments was research with the scrapie agent that resulted in procedures ultimately used to discover prions. In a milestone discovery for understanding viral polymerases, he revealed highly active template-specific RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from barley leaves infected with brome mosaic virus. As his colleague Allen Miller remembers, “Tom was always fascinated by biology. He found so many things interesting—he was funny, humble, a great storyteller, and a cool dude. His work setting up the brome mosaic virus cell-free RNA-dependent RNA polymerase system gave me an excellent project for my Ph.D. that launched my career.” In 1985, German joined the faculty of the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, where he led a robust research and teaching program in plant virology that set new standards of excellence for that institution. His discoveries there launched exciting work currently being done internationally on tospoviruses and their thrips vectors, and it laid the foundation for understanding the viral etiology of mealybug wilt of pineapple, a previously intractable problem for the global pineapple industry. In 1990, he was recruited to UW–Madison as an assistant professor and director of the Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program (WSPCP), a program he directed until July 2000. In 1995, German advanced to full professor and was elected as chair of the Department of Plant Pathology (1995–1998), while he continued to serve as director of WSPCP. In recognition of his cross-disciplinary understanding and leadership in plant virus/insect interactions, German was appointed as a faculty member in the UW Department of Entomology in 2000. He served as chair of the Department of Entomology from 2002 to 2005. Tom had excellent leadership skills that enabled him to become the first person in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at UW Madison to be elected (not merely appointed) to a chair position in two different departments. In 2010, he was appointed professor emeritus, and he continued to conduct research and contribute to the campus, the global research community, and the discipline until his passing. Tom was deeply engaged in vector biology and virology research, with substantial impact in both empirical science and its applied domains. This is what made Tom exceptional in his career—his brilliant scientific interest and his capacity and desire to communicate and utilize science for practical and paradigm-shifting outcomes. The excellence of his publications across many years speaks volumes about the value and meaningful nature of his research: working on the cutting edge of virology to answer fundamental questions about virus infection and vector/virus relationships. Across his long career, Tom worked tirelessly toward understanding difficult problems, including revealing many aspects of tospovirus biology and ecology. Never one to shy away from difficult problems, he was at the forefront of understanding how tospoviruses interact with plants and with their extraordinarily tiny thrips vectors. In recent years, Tom’s insights and ideas, freely given without reservation, played a key role in assisting those who created the first infectious clones of TSWV. Tom had an extraordinary ability to advance fundamental research and contribute substantially to applied research and outreach. During the final stage of his research, Tom made major contributions to experiments aimed at understanding how TSWV packages its RNA genome that were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Tom and his collaborator and friend, Diane Ullman, working in the lab to purify virus particles. Tom and his wife, Mary Diezel, celebrating with academic family, Anna Whitfield and Dorith Rotenberg. Tom was an exemplary educator and successful mentor of 12 graduate students, numerous undergraduate student workers and researchers, a host of post-doctoral researchers, and many assistant professors. Without question, German’s guidance as a professor produced the leaders in tospovirology, plant virus/insect vector interactions, and molecular virology, as well as professionals in business and philanthropy. As Scott Adkins, one of Tom’s graduate students, remembers, “With his infectious enthusiasm, Tom instilled in us the wonder of all things virological.” Tom’s legacy lives on through the many formal and informal mentoring relationships that he established. His unique and insightful approach to science and life will be remembered and carried forward by current and future generations of scientists. The University of Wisconsin Foundation now has a student support fund named for Dr. Thomas L. German (112680009). Tom is survived by his wife, Mary Diezel of rural Hollandale; his dog, Ruby German (a very good girl); a sister

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