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This Lectureship was established in 1981 by ARS to honor the memory of Sterling B. Hendricks and to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the chemical science of agriculture. Hendricks contributed to many diverse scientific disciplines, including soil science, mineralogy, agronomy, plant physiology, geology, and chemistry. The deadline for nominations is December 31, 2022.  For more information, direct inquiries to HendricksLecture@usda.gov.

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Co-sponsored by AGFD and AGRO Divisions

2021 Awardee

 

Stephen O. Duke is internationally recognized for his basic and applied research on natural products as sources of pesticides and the biochemical and physiological modes of action of and resistance to herbicides. He is also well known for his extensive research on the herbicide glyphosate and glyphosate-resistant weeds and crops. His research has significantly influenced companies involved in pesticide discovery.

Steve received a BS in 1966 from Henderson State University (Arkadelphia, AR) and an MS in 1969 from the University of Arkansas. Then, he spent two years as a U.S. Army Medical Service Corps officer, a year of which was spent in Viet Nam. In 1975. he received a PhD in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry from Duke University. He is currently a principal scientist at the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) which is an institute of the School of Pharmacy of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Before this position he was a Research Leader of a USDA, Agricultural Research Service natural products laboratory located at NCNPR and, before that, he was Director of the USDA Southern Weed Science Laboratory in Stoneville, MS.

His PhD research was on phytochrome (discovered by Sterling Hendricks) control of plant biochemistry. His earliest research focused on plant photobiology and photochemistry, but he soon began studying the mechanisms of action of both synthetic and natural herbicides. He is especially known for his research on the mode of action of protoporphyrinogen oxidase-inhibiting herbicides. He also delved into the chemistry and mechanisms of chemical warfare between plants (allelopathy). Much of his research is on the biological activities of newly discovered natural compounds that might be used in pest management. Some of his more recent research has been on the use of genes for pest management.

He has authored almost 500 refereed papers and book chapters, two patents, and one co-written text book, as well as editing eleven books. Much of this work is highly cited, resulting in Web of Science and Google Scholar h-indices of 70 and 100, respectively.

He has been President or Chair of the Agrochemical Division (AGRO) of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA), the International Weed Science Society (IWSS), and the International Allelopathy Society (IAS). He is a fellow of ACS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AGRO, and WSSA. Other honors include the Molisch Award (IAS), the Outstanding International Achievement award of IWSS, the International Research Award of AGRO, and an honorary doctorate from the University of the Basque Country (Bilbao, Spain). He was elected to the USDA, ARS Science Hall of Fame in 2017. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the journal Pest Management Science since 2012 and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals.

Past Awardees

1981

Norman E. Borlaug, Nobel Laureate, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico City, Mexico

1982

Warren L. Butler, University of California-San Diego

1983

Melvin Calvin, Nobel Laureate, University of California-Berkeley

1984

Frederick Ausubel, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

1985

Alan Putnam, Michigan State University, East Lansing

1986

Ralph Hardy, Cornell University and BioTechnica International, Ithaca, New York

1987

Mary-Dell Chilton, Ciba-Geigy Corporation, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

1988

Bruce N. Ames, University of California, Berkeley

1989

Sanford A. Miller, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas

1990

Roy L. Whistle, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

1991

Peter S. Eagleson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

1992

John E. Casida, University of California-Berkeley

1993

Philip H. Abelson, Deputy Editor, Science, and Scientific Advisor to AAAS, Washington, DC

1994

Wendell L. Roelofs, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

1995

Winslow R. Briggs, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, California

1996

Hugh D. Sisler, University of Maryland, College Park

1997

Ernest Hodgson, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

1998

Morton Beroza, USDA-ARS (retired), Beltsville, Maryland

1999

Bruce D. Hammock, University of California-Davis

2000

William S. Bowers, University of Arizona, Tuscon

 

 

 

2001

Malcolm Thompson, USDA-ARS (retired), Beltsville, Maryland

2002

Irvin E. Liener, University of Minnesota, St. Paul

2003

Kriton Kleanthis Hatzios, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg

2004

Robert L. Buchanan, Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland

2005

Donald L. Sparks, University of Delaware, Newark

2006

Stanley B. Prusiner, Nobel Laureate, University of California, San Francisco

2007

Bruce E. Dale, Michigan State University, East Lansing

2008

Fergus M. Clydesdale, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

2009

Charles J. Arntzen, Arizona State University-Tempe

2010

Chris Somerville, Director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, Berkeley, California

2011

Deborah P. Delmer, University of California-Davis

2012

Eric Block, University at Albany, State University of New York

2013

Keith Solomon, University of Guelph, Canada

2014

Robert T. Fraley, Monsanto, Company, St. Louis, Missouri

2015

James Tumlinson, Penn State, University Park

2016

May R. Berenbaum, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2017

John Pickett, Rothamsted Research, United Kingdom

2018

James N. Seiber, University of California, Davis

2019

John W. Finley, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

2020

Thomas C. Sparks, Corteva Agrisciences, Wilmington, DE

2021

Fereidon Shahidi, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Canada

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