Tuan-hua David Ho Elected to Lead ASPB in 2009–2010

Tuan-hua David Ho becomes president-elect October 1 and is slated to become ASPB president next October for the 2009–2010 term.

David Ho, professor at Washington University in St. Louis, obtained his PhD in biochemistry from the DOE Plant Research Laboratory at Michigan State University in 1976. After two years as a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he took a position as assistant professor in the Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 1984, he moved to Washington University, where he is currently a professor in the Department of Biology. During the past four years, he also served as the director of the Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei.

David’s research concentrates on the hormonal regulation of seed germination and on plant responses to environmental stresses. His early work contributed to the understanding of the physiological role of cereal aleurone layers during seedling growth. Several key hydrolytic enzymes involved in this process have been studied, purified, and cloned in his laboratory. In recent years, his work has been centered on hormonal regulation of gene expression and programmed cell death and the role of stress-induced proteins. His group played a major role in defining the cis-acting promoter sequences necessary and sufficient for GA and ABA regulated gene transcription. His work also addresses the role of protein kinases and phosphatases, transcription factors, and other components in signal transduction pathways mediating the antagonism between GA and ABA. More recently, he has become interested in biofuel-related problems, especially microbial enzymes capable of hydrolyzing lignocellulosic materials.

David has been elected a fellow of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science; 2004), a member of TWAS (Academy for the Developing World; 2004), and a member of Academia Sinica (Taipei; 2002). He was also recognized as an ISI most-cited researcher in Animal and Plant Sciences in 2003, the Burris Distinguished Lecturer at South Dakota State University in 1993, and a UNESCO Professor at Peking University in 1994. He served as director of the Plant Biology Program at Washington University from 1987 to 1989. He was an editor of the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation from 1989 to 2001 and a member of the editorial board for Developmental Genetics from 1984 to 1990. He has served on various government research panels, including the NSF Developmental Biology Program (1993–1994), USDA–NRI Genetic Mechanism Program (1981–1983), Stress Biology Program (1985–1986), and Special Grant Program (1994). He was manager of the USDA Plant Responses to the Environment Program in 1993.

David joined ASPB in 1973. He served on the Program Committee from 1994 to 1997 and as chair of the Corresponding Membership Committee from 2001 to 2003. He is currently a member of the International Committee. He was the Society’s representative to AAAS from 1992 to 1994 in the sections of Biological Sciences and Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Resources. From 1982 to 1993, he was on the editorial board of Plant Physiology and was a monitoring editor from 1995 to 2001.

As a long-time member of ASPB, David has been interested in promoting the role of our Society in the international arena. In addition to emphasizing outreach, education, academic publication, and public affairs, he also would like to see ASPB play a major role in bridging academic and industrial interests.