ASPB Leadership
Tessa Burch-Smith
Tessa Burch-Smith is an Associate Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She also holds courtesy appointments at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she was previously an associate professor and at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Research in the Burch-Smith lab focuses on communication in plants, particularly intercellular communication via plasmodesmata which allow movement of molecules between walled plant cells and intracellular communication between organelles with a focus on signaling initiated by chloroplasts. The lab also investigates plant-virus interactions with the long-term goal of increased crop protection from viral disease. Tessa served as Chair of the ASPB Science Policy Committee from 2020 to 2024 and was an elected member of the ASPB Board of Directors from 2022 to 2024. She has supported the ASPB journals The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology through contributions as an author and reviewer. Tessa is passionate about broadening participation in science and believes that ASPB has a crucial role in providing an enriching, supportive environment and opportunities for persons not traditionally engaged in science and careers in science. She is excited to serve ASPB and its members as President.
Gloria Muday
Gloria Muday is the Charles M. Allen Professor of Biology at Wake Forest University. She is Director of the WFU Center for Molecular Signaling, a research center spanning the Arts and Science and Medical School campuses, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major. Research in the Muday lab examines how specialized metabolites of the flavonoid family function as antioxidants to control levels of reactive oxygen species to maintain tomato reproductive thermotolerance and the gene regulatory networks by which auxin and ethylene control root development. Muday has been a member of ASPB since she was a graduate student and is an ASPB Fellow and Legacy Society member. Gloria has served as an editor for Plant Physiology and as a member of the ASPB Executive Committee (now the ASPB Council). Her priorities during her tenure as ASPB President include advocating for government support of plant biology research, enhancing opportunities for early career researchers, and supporting and strengthening our plant biology community.
Kent Chapman
Kent Chapman is Regents Professor of Biochemistry at the University of North Texas, and he is a founding member of the BioDiscovery Institute, one of four Institutes of Research Excellence at UNT. Research in the Chapman lab is focused around the theme of plant lipid metabolism, especially in the areas of signaling enzymes, organelle biogenesis, metabolic pathway engineering, and lipid imaging technologies. Chapman is an ASPB Fellow and has been a member of ASPB for more than 35 years. Over the years, Kent served in several leadership positions in the Southern section of the ASPB, and more recently as ASPB Treasurer and Chair of the Board of Trustees. He is currently a reviewing editor for The Plant Cell, and has supported all of the ASPB journals through research contributions and reviewer assignments. Kent believes it is important to give back to the society that has done so much to support his own professional development. Kent looks forward to serving the ASPB members and the plant science community during his term as ASPB President.