PEOPLE

Symposium Honors Distinguished Career of John S. Boyer

Buchanan Honored by Emory and Henry College

ASPB past president Bob Buchanan has been awarded the William and Martha DeFriece Award by the trustees of his alma mater, Emory and Henry College, “in recognition of his contribution to humanity in the field of science.” Buchanan is a professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of California at Berkeley.

The William and Martha DeFriece Award is made by the trustees of the college to an alumnus or faculty member who “may have made some outstanding, worthwhile contribution to civilization or humanity in the fields of Christianity, or Science, or Education, or Freedom, or Peace, or Love, or Faith, or Honor, or Virtue, or all of them. The services meriting this award may include some literary production of more than common merit, a scientific discovery of moral and useful benefit to humanity, or other outstanding service which largely contributed or may largely contribute to the welfare of others.”

The award was established in 1951 by Frank W. DeFriece, Sr., in honor of his parents William R. DeFriece and Martha Jane Clark DeFriece, residents of Washington County, Virginia. Frank DeFriece, Sr., a member of the Emory and Henry class of 1903 and a graduate of Columbia University School of Law, was an attorney and business executive in Bristol, Virginia.

The award includes a bronze medallion, and the recipient of the award designates $2,500 from the earnings of the award’s permanent endowment to support an academic or cultural program at the college.

Symposium Honors Distinguished Career of John S. Boyer

John S. Boyer
Copyright University of Delaware

On June 7, 2005, at the University of Delaware’s Clayton Hall Conference Center, a symposium featuring internationally recognized scholars was held to highlight recent advances and new frontiers in marine and terrestrial molecular biosciences. The symposium also honored the distinguished career of John S. Boyer, E. I. duPont Professor of Marine Biochemistry/Biophysics, who retired from the university faculty on June 30, 2005.
Boyer’s research has focused on understanding how saline and drought conditions can inhibit plant growth. This is a particularly important issue for countries such as Australia, where the soil is naturally high in salt and agriculture is an important industry. Much of the land lies in semi-arid areas that must be irrigated, which can further increase the soil’s salt content.

A prolific author, Boyer has written more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles and two books. Last year, he was listed by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the 250 most-cited scientists in the world in the plant and animal sciences.

Among Boyer’s many accolades, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1990, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a scientist in the United States. Earlier this year, he was elected a corresponding member of the Australian Academy of Science, a distinction reserved for scientists “who are eminent in respect of scientific discoveries and attainments” but who do not normally reside in Australia.