Harold Corby Kistler received his B.S. degree in biology from Kent State University and his Ph.D. degree in plant pathology from Cornell University. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin, and he joined the faculty of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Florida in 1985. In 1999, he accepted a position as research geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service in the Cereal Disease Laboratory in St. Paul and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Kistler is an internationally recognized authority on Fusarium species. He has made numerous outstanding contributions that have advanced our knowledge of the basic biology and molecular genetics of pathogenicity of Fusarium species. He has developed many of the tools and techniques that are now used routinely for molecular genetic studies of Fusarium.
Dr. Kistler’s current research program is focused on the population genetics and genomics of F. graminearum, the Fusarium head blight pathogen. He has been at the forefront of efforts to develop publicly available genomic resources for F. graminearum, including coordinating efforts for manual annotation, functional analysis, and integration of the genetic and physical maps. The recent public release of the genome sequence of F. graminearum represents a major milestone in molecular biology of plantpathogenic fungi.
Dr. Kistler has served APS as an associate editor of Phytopathology and Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions and as a member and chair of the Genetics Committee, the Mycology Committee, and the Physiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology Committee. He has been instrumental in developing an international forum of Fusarium researchers and currently serves as chair of the Committee on Fusarium of the International Society for Plant Pathology. He was the recipient of the Award of Excellence for Graduate Research at the University of Florida in 1998 and the Civil Servant of the Year Award, presented by the Federal Executive Board of Minnesota, in 2003.
For his innovative research contributions, his leadership in the molecular biology of plant-pathogenic fungi, and his service to APS, Dr. Corby Kistler is recognized as a worthy recipient of the APS Fellow Award.
