Annapolis MD; August 24, 2015 - The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is pleased to announce the selection of the 2015 Honorary Members of the Society. Honorary Membership acknowledges those who have served ESA for at least 20 years through significant involvement in the affairs of the Society that has reached an extraordinary level. Candidates for this honor are selected by the ESA Governing Board and then voted on by the ESA membership. The Honorary Members listed below will be honored at the Awards Ceremony at Entomology 2015, ESA's Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this November.
DR. WAYNE A. GARDNER has been a member of the University of Georgia's Entomology faculty since 1979. He attained the rank of Professor in 1991, and has served as Unit Administrative Coordinator on the UGA Griffin Campus for 24 years. Dr. Gardner has actively served ESA in various committee and leadership capacities during his 41 years of continuous service as a member of the Society. He served as Secretary, Chair-elect, and Chair of Subsection Ce (Microbial Control) and as co-chair of the Local Arrangements Committee for the Society's 1999 meeting in Atlanta. Dr. Gardner continued to serve on the Local Arrangements Committee for the next 10 years as coordinator of student volunteers for the Society's annual meetings. He personally invested hundreds of hours in ensuring that student members have a positive networking experience. Dr. Gardner was elected to and served on the ESA Governing Board from 2001-2004, including an additional year of service beyond the usual three-year term following the passing of the Board representative he replaced. During his time on the Board, the Society solidified its financial standing and realigned its organization to effectively address the changing needs of its membership and those the Society serves. Dr. Gardner also contributed extensively to ESA Southeastern Branch governance on committees, as Program Committee chair on two occasions, and as President (2004-2005). He also has served the Georgia Entomological Society in various leadership roles including President (2004-2005) and as Business Manager (1988-1993) and Editor (1993 to present) of the Journal of Entomological Science.
DR. MICHAEL E. GRAY is a professor and assistant dean at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Dr. Gray graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.A. (1977) degree in biology, and received M.S. (1982) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees in entomology from Iowa State University. He is internationally recognized for his research and extension programs on management of the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte). Dr. Gray has published numerous journal articles on western corn rootworm, including a 2009 Annual Review of Entomology paper, and also served as co-editor for the ESA Handbook of Corn Insects, published in 1999. He has been a member of ESA since 1979 and has served the society in many leadership roles, including: Program Chair, North Central Branch (NCB) Meeting, 1994; Editorial Board, American Entomologist, 1990-1995; Executive Committee, NCB, 1994-1997; Editor, Journal of Economic Entomology, 1995-1997; Program Co-Chair, ESA National Meeting, 2001; President, NCB, 2002-2003; Governing Board, Section E, 2004-2005; Chair, ESA Nominations Committee, 2004-2006; and Governing Board Executive Committee, 2004-2009. Dr. Gray served as President of ESA during the first full year of ESA's Renewal and transition to the four new Sections. In 2002, he received the ESA-NCB Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management. In 2011, he received the ESA Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension. In 2013, the ESA-NCB honored Dr. Gray with the C.V. Riley Achievement Award. He received the UIUC Paul A. Funk Recognition Award (2007) for outstanding achievement and major contributions to the betterment of agriculture, natural resources, and human systems. In 2013, Gray was elected an ESA Fellow.
DR. JACQUELINE Y. MILLER has been a member of ESA since 1992. She received a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Florida (1986) and has been associated with the Florida Museum of Natural History since 1981, where she now serves as a Curator of Lepidoptera at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. Dr. Miller served as a research scholar and taught entomology at New College of Florida (1995-2004) and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor in both the Departments of Entomology and Nematology and Biology at the University of Florida. She has served on numerous graduate committees at UF as well as nationally and internationally. Her research interests include systematics, biogeography, and biodiversity of Lepidoptera worldwide, especially in the Caribbean basin. She represented Section A on the ESA Systematics Resources Committee from 1994-1997, and then served the committee as Secretary (1997-1998), Vice-Chair (1998-199), and Chair (1999-2000). She has served on the ESA Annual Meeting Program Committee and co-chaired the Local Arrangements Committee, and has also served on the ESA Ethics Committee and as a representative to the ESA Governing Board (2003-2005). She has served as both a moderator and a judge for the ESA Annual Meeting student competition. She was elected an ESA Fellow in 2008. She is presently serving on the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2016 International Congress of Entomology and on the Presidental Committee on Section Leadership.
DR. MARLIN E. RICE is a senior research manager with DuPont Pioneer in Johnston, Iowa, and a collaborating Professor at Iowa State University. He has served ESA for 26 consecutive years, which includes service on numerous committees, boards, and publications. For nine years, Dr. Rice served on the ESA Governing Board and was elected by the membership as Representative (Section E), Secretary-Treasurer, and President. During his tenure as President, he appointed the first student representative to the Governing Board, which the membership later voted to make a permanent elected position. The same year (2009), the membership overwhelmingly supported creation of the International Branch and a new Society logo. He served on two Executive Director Search Committees and has worked in various capacities on ESA publications, including Journal of Economic Entomology (Editorial Board and Chair) and Handbook of Corn Insects (Co-Editor). Along with Kevin Steffey, he was a co-founder and is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief for ESA's Journal of Integrated Pest Management. He labored on the Annual Meeting Program as Poster Chair, Student Competition Chair, and, during 2000, Program Chair for the Montreal meeting. Currently, he participates on committees for the World of Insects Calendar and YouTube Your Entomology, and he writes the column "Legends" forAmerican Entomologist. In the ESA North Central Branch, Rice was elected to the Executive Committee, was Linnaean Games Master for five years, and was Program Chair during the Great Sioux Falls Blizzard of 1998. In 2011, Rice was elected an ESA Fellow, primarily for his contributions to extension entomology.
DR. JOHN TRUMBLE, Distinguished Professor of Entomology, University of California at Riverside, joined ESA in 1975. Since then, he has served on the ESA Governing Board, and has been involved in buying computers and a building for the society, selecting Executive Directors, promoting electronic publishing, and serving as President of the Pacific Branch. He has helped advance ESA by serving on more than 40 committees that handled finances, award selections, nominations, long-term planning, and managing the nuts and bolts of society operations. Since 2001 his primary role has been to serve as the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Economic Entomology. When he accepted this position in 2001, he was immediately challenged to set up an entirely new publication system mandated by the Governing Board. The old approach with three or four co-editors was replaced with a new system consisting of an Editor-in-Chief and 20-30 Subject Editors. Dr. Trumble found qualified scientists willing to take on the editorial jobs and converted the journal from a paper-based review system to an email-based system and then to a web-based submission system, greatly reducing the response time on manuscripts. Since 2001, Dr. Trumble has continually added new editors as others retired or moved on. He also maintains an active mentorship program. In just the last four years, he has published six papers with undergraduate students as co-authors. This type of mentorship also serves ESA by creating an enthusiasm for our science that motivates the next generation of scientists to become entomologists.
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The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has nearly 7,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, and hobbyists. For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org.