The Charles Albert Shull Award

This award was initiated in 1971 by the Society to honor Dr. Charles A. Shull, whose personal interest and support were largely responsible for the founding and early growth of the Society. It is a monetary award made annually for outstanding investigations in the field of plant biology by a member who is generally under forty-five years of age on January 1st of the year of presentation, or is fewer than ten years from the granting of the doctoral degree. Breaks in careers will be considered when addressing the age limit of this award. The recipient is invited to address the Society at the annual meeting the following year.

2024 Winner: Robert (Bob) Schmitz

University of Georgia, Athens

Robert (Bob) Schmitz, a professor of genetics at the University of Georgia, is the recipient of the 2024 Charles Albert Shull award. Bob’s research is revealing how the processes driving chromatin dynamics contribute to molecular evolution across many plant species. Bob developed foundational technologies that enable genome-wide investigations of chromatin modification. He applies these approaches to populations to study the impact epigenetic modifications have on life history traits and the interplay between specific modifications and plant responses to changing environments. Bob is also recognized for enabling more plant scientists to engage in genomic studies by making data freely available and developing cost-effective technologies that can be used by the broader research community.

Dominique Bergman, Chair (2021-2024)
Jose Dinneny, Past Winner (2023-2024)
Aaron Rashotte (2023-2026)
Aaron Wyman (2023-2026)
Sylvia Lee, Staff Liaison