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​2025 APS Awardees

Michael Boehm

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Dr. ​Michael J. Boehm, born in Lakewood, Ohio, is a distinguished educator, plant pathologist, and visionary leader in higher education. His career exemplifies an unwavering commitment to teaching, service, advocacy, and transformative leadership, advancing both plant pathology and higher education. He earned a B.S. in biology from Heidelberg College in 1987, an M.S. (1990) and Ph.D. (1992) in plant pathology from The Ohio State University.

Leonardo De La Fuente

Auburn University

Dr. Leonardo De La Fuente was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He has a B.S. in biochemistry (1996) and an M.S. in biology (2000) from the University of the Republic, Montevideo, and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from Washington State University, Pullman. From 2005-2008, he conducted postdoctoral research at Cornell University, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, on the use of nanotechnology to understand fundamental interactions of Xylella fastidiosa inside its host.

Chuanxue Hong

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Chuanxue Hong was born to a farming family in southeastern China. He received his Ph.D. degree in plant disease epidemiology from China Agricultural University in 1990. Dr. Hong joined Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in 1999 and was promoted to full professor in 2010.

Chuan noticed crop losses to diseases and insect pests in his early life and was determined to uplift his fellow farmers through innovative research. This aspiration has driven him to strive for excellence at every step of his career.

Steven Klosterman

USDA ARS

Dr. Steven J. Klosterman was born in St Marys, Ohio, and earned his B.S. in biology from Wright State University (1996) and a Ph.D. (2002) in plant pathology from Washington State University. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Georgia, he joined the USDA ARS in 2006, in Salinas, California, where he is currently a Research Molecular Biologist.

Melissa Mitchum

University of Georgia

Dr. Melissa Mitchum earned a B.S. in biology in 1993 from the University of Puget Sound, a M.S. in plant pathology in 1995 from the University of Nebraska, and her doctorate in plant pathology from North Carolina State University in 2001. After two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University, she accepted an Assistant Professor position in the Division of Plant Sciences at the University of Missouri and progressed through the faculty ranks to Professor in 2017. In 2016 Mitchum became the Founder and Director of SCN Diagnostics that provided timely, high-quality plant and nematode screening services to farmers, crop advisors, and industry.

Erin Rosskopf

USDA ARS

Dr. Erin Nichole Rosskopf has been engaged in farming since her childhood, growing up in rural southeastern Pennsylvania where her parents taught in Baltimore, Maryland during the school year and worked on an organic beef cattle ranch in the summer. She began her career in plant pathology as an undergraduate teaching assistant for Dr. Fritz Morsink, Towson University, and graduated with a B.S. in biology in 1992. At the University of Florida, she conducted her Ph.D. research on host-specific phytopathogenic fungi as weed biological control agents under the tutelage of Dr. Raghavan Charudattan with whom she continues collaborating almost 30 years later.

Ioannis Tzanetakis

University of Arkansas

Dr. Ioannis E. Tzanetakis (Yannis) grew up in Athens, Greece; obtained his B.S. in soil science from the Agricultural University of Athens and Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology at Oregon State University (OSU) with Dr. Robert Martin. He returned to Greece for his military service before returning to OSU for a postdoc with Dr. Theo Dreher. Tzanetakis joined the University of Arkansas in 2008 as Assistant Professor and made Full Professor in 2017. He leads a widely recognized program focused on virus diseases of berry crops, ornamentals and soybean.

Timothy Widmer

USDA ARS

Dr. Timothy L. Widmer was raised in Albany, Oregon and earned his B.A. in chemistry from Goshen College. After researching diagnostic enzyme production for five years in industry, he completed his Ph.D. in plant pathology in 1996 at the University of Florida under the supervision of Drs. Dave Mitchell and Jim Graham. By researching the use of composted municipal waste as a soil amendment to reduce the impact of Phytophthora root rot of citrus, he determined the mechanism of pathogen suppression on citrus seedlings. Later, he conducted post-doctoral research at Cornell University with Dr. George Abawi, investigating the use of green manure to suppress root knot nematodes.

Carolyn Young

North Carolina State University

Dr. Carolyn Young was born in Wellington, New Zealand. She earned her B.Sc. (1993), M.Sc. in genetics (1999), and Ph.D. in molecular biology (2005) from Massey University. As a first-generation and nontraditional student, Carolyn demonstrated exceptional dedication, balancing part-time studies with full-time work in Professor Barry Scott's research lab. This experience laid the foundation for her lifelong commitment to academic and professional excellence.As a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University under Sophien Kamoun, Carolyn evaluated RxLR effector diversity in Phytophthora infestans.