This award is to be used for furthering education outside the APS Annual Meeting to develop skills and/or to network with other scientists. Examples of types of activity this award can be used are provided below, but we encourage you be innovative in your thinking, as the APS Foundation and the
Mathre Educational Endowment are keen to expand the knowledge and capabilities of its newest members.
Examples of how the award can be used, but not limited to:
- Travel to another meeting such as a commodity meeting (e.g. Tomato Disease Workers Conference, Farm Show) or another society meeting (e.g Agronomy meetings)
- Attend a special course or training (e.g. Post-Harvest Disease Workshop at UC Davis; presentation skills workshop, grant writing workshops, etc)
- Travel to another research lab to learn more about a particular topic, lab technique, etc.
Award Amount: one $500 award
Applicants must be an APS student member in good standing and in enrolled in a graduate program or postdoctoral program. Students who received an Education Award last year, will not be eligible the next award cycle.
Letter of Intent
You must submit a letter of intent, written by you the applicant, including the following criteria:
- Name, address, and phone number
- Current university/major professor (and their email)
- Degree being sought and anticipated graduation date
- Area of study
- Intentions for use of the $500 award fund
- Explanation of how this will help you reach your goals
Letter of Recommendation
You must submit a letter of recommendation, written by your advisor or other sponsor, explaining the following:
- What is the bearing of the student's research and/or study program on plant pathology as it pertains to human and/or or environmental welfare?
- Include a statement regarding the academic merit (accomplishments and/or skills of the student)
- Why you believe this request is worthwhile for the applicant
Letters of recommendation are to submitted separately by the letter writer using the online form and are due February 1 of each year.
Submit Letter of Recommendation
Letter of Support
A letter of support, written by the institution of instruction, are to submitted to indicate you will be welcomed and information about any funds provided by that lab or your major professor for this education. Letters of support may be submitted separately by the letter writer using the line form and are due Februuary 1 of each year.
Submit Letter of Support
All of the above required materials (except for the support and recommendation letters) are to saved into one PDF document and submitted through the online form by February 1 of each year.
Submissions for FY23 are closed.
Previous Awardees
2022: Temilade M. Fetuga, Nigeria
This award, the first Named Educational Award, is supported by the Don and Judy Mathre Education Endowment.
Create your own Named Education Award! Your major founding contribution could launch an annual opportunity for aspiring plant pathologists.
Donald E. Mathre was born in Frankfort, Kansas, on January 5, 1938. He received a B.S. degree in botany from Iowa State University in 1960. Later that same year, he began graduate work in plant pathology at the University of California, Davis, where he earned a Ph.D. degree in plant pathology in 1964.
Immediately upon graduation, Dr. Mathre was appointed assistant professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis. His research was on the soilborne diseases of cotton. Dr. Mathre joined the Department of Botany and Microbiology at Montana State University, Bozeman, as assistant professor of plant pathology in 1967. He was promoted to associate professor in 1969 and full professor in 1972.
Early in his career at Bozeman, Dr. Mathre conducted research on the mode of action of oxathiin systemic fungicides on basidiomycete fungi. He determined that they affected the electron transport system ofmitochondria. During that same period, Dr. Mathre studied the biology and control of ergot on male sterile barley and wheat. Results of this research expanded the knowledge of how host, pathogen, and environmental factors influence ergot development.
Undoubtedly, Dr. Mathre is best known for his insightful research on the soilborne pathogens of field crops. He is considered a world authority on the
Cephalosporium stripe disease of wheat. His work has encompassed most aspects of the disease and its causal fungus,
Cephalosporium gramineum. He has investigated the infection processes and virulence of the pathogen, the physiological and chemical factors affecting sporulation of the fungus, host response and sources of resistance, and the physiological effects of the disease on growth and yield of wheat. The culmination of his outstanding research resulted in the development of CEPHLOSS, a computer program for determining the economic benefit of crop rotation as a control measure for
Cephalosporium stripe disease of winter wheat. The program was made available in 1985, and many Montana growers have benefited from its use in the management of the disease. Dr. Mathre also developed and released three winter wheat germ plasm lines with resistance to
Cephalosporium stripe disease.
Dr. Mathre is recognized internationally for his creative research on other soilborne diseases. He assessed the incidence and severity of dryland root rot of wheat and barley and the take-all disease of wheat in Montana. On the basis of these findings and subsequent disease control studies, he devised biological and chemical control strategies for these diseases. Dr. Mathre has distinguished himself as a cereal smut pathologist. He is recognized throughout the world as an expert on loose smut of barley and dwarf smut (TCK) of wheat.
From 1987 to the present, Dr. Mathre has broadened the scope of his research on soilborne diseases to include studies involving not only pathogens but also other soil organisms, some of which may interact with pathogens and influence the development of diseases. He has looked at the relationship between bacterial seed inoculum density and rhizosphere colonization of wheat. More recently, he has worked on a bio-priming seed treatment for the biological control of
Pythium ultimum preemergence damping off in super sweet corn. He is the author of 75 scientific articles in refereed journals, two book chapters, and one book. Moreover, several important disease problems have been solved because of his keen mind, intellectual curiosity, impeccable experimental methodology, and concern for crop agriculture. In 1973, Dr. Mathre was honored for his work by being elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Mathre excels as a teacher. His formal teaching assignments have included “Introduction to Plant Pathology” and “Mycology” at the undergraduate level, and “Soilborne Disease” at the graduate level. He received an Outstanding Educator of America Award and an Anna K. Fridley Outstanding Teacher Award in 1975 and 1983, respectively, in recognition of his teaching ability.
In addition to his research and teaching accomplishments, Dr. Mathre has made significant administrative contributions. The Department of Plant Pathology at Montana State University, formed in 1972, prospered twice under his leadership. He was acting head of the department from 1975 to 1976 and head from 1987 to 1990. In 1990, he was appointed acting associate dean of research for the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. Personnel in the experiment station have lauded Dr. Mathre for his positive attitude and his open and honest administrative style as associate dean. Subsequently Dr. Mathre has resumed the position of department head.
Dr. Mathre has served APS well in many capacities. He has been a member of the editorial boards of
Phytopathology, Plant Disease Reporter, and
Plant Disease. He was senior editor of
Plant Disease from 1980 to 1983. He served as a member or chair of several standing committees and as councilor-at-large. Dr. Mathre was secretary treasurer, president, and councilor of the Pacific Division. In 1989, he served as president of APS. He presided over the 81st annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia, where in his presidential address he challenged members of the Society to “look at ourselves and to our future.”
DEADLINE:
February 1 of each year
AWARD:
$500 (1)
