From the Department Head

Elizabeth Grabau
department head

Greetings Alumni, Students, Friends, and Colleagues:

Welcome to the 2009 departmental newsletter celebrating the events and accomplishments of the past year. Due to the dedication and hard work of our faculty, staff and students, PPWS has been able to weather the impacts of the difficult economic times and continue to grow, hire new faculty and recruit new students.

• Eva Collakova joined PPWS in Blacksburg as a faculty member in January 2009 working in the area of plant metabolism and metabolic flux.
• Mizuho Nita joined the Alson H. Smith AREC in Winchester as a grape pathologist.
• A large number of department members participated in the 2008 Centennial Celebration of the American Phytopathological Society in Minneapolis. Special sessions, awards and a book signing featuring PPWS faculty members are highlighted inside this issue.
• Brett Tyler was the recipient of the Noel T. Keen award for Research in Molecular Plant Pathology.
• The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recognized the achievements of two PPWS alumni: Penny Hunst (Ph.D. 1981) and Kevin Bradley (Ph.D. 2004).
• Cindy Denbow (Ph.D. 1997) was honored for teaching excellence in the College of Agriculture and Life Science at the spring commencement ceremony.
• Eight graduate students completed dissertations or theses since last year's newsletter and ten new graduate students will be joining the department in 2009.
• Grants and contracts for our research and Extension programs increased nearly 70 percent for the year -- another tribute to the success of the faculty leading those programs.

We invite you to check inside to view more activities from the past year, and we hope you will keep us updated on accomplishments and additional news from PPWS alumni.