Pioneer Member

Joe Polacco – Doug Randall was a dynamic force for plant science at the University of Missouri (MU), but his enthusiasm and energy extended to the national and international spheres. MU was known for plant excellence primarily because of Doug’s dynamism. And, his lobbying was not directed to his own program, nor for personal aggrandizement. In the process of building up the Plant Science Group, Doug learned of other aspects of plant science not in his training or experience, and he became expert in those areas, to the extent that he energetically recruited “next generations” of plant scientists. That dynamism, and spirit of cooperation, is now self-perpetuating at MU. Finally, our annual symposium, run on modest budgets, is a destination for most of the world’s plant scientists, the established and the up-and-coming. Doug was the motive force behind it.