Dr. Vijayalakshmi Mojumder

1948-2007

We very sadly inform you that our senior colleague, Dr. Vijayalakshmi Mojumder, Principal Scientist, Division of Nematology, IARI, New Delhi, left for her heavenly abode on 22 September, 2007 at 0.15AM. She would have been 59 years on 3rd Ocrober, 2007. Dr. Mojumder was not keeping good health for some time due to breast cancer which could not be fully controlled despite best medical treatment.
Dr. Mojumder is well known for her work on the use of neem and other plant products for management of plant parasitic nematodes. She had also done some work on insect parasitic nematodes. She was also a very good teacher.
Starting as a graduate student at IARI in 1970, she served nematology for over 37 years.

--
Prof. H.S.Gaur
President, Nematological Society of India

Dr. Usha K. Mehta

1940-2006

Dr. Usha Kirtilal Mehta, Nematologist passed away on 20th December, 2006 following cardiac arrest. She was born on May 5, 1940 at Palanpur in Gujarat, India. She received the B.Sc. in Zoology in 1959 in Government Arts College, Coimbatore, M.Sc. in Zoology in 1961 in Pachaiyappa's College, Madras, India and Ph.D. in nematology in 1970 from the University of California, USA under the guidance of Dr. D.J. Raski. She continued her nematode work as a pool officer from 1971-75 at Tamilnadu Agricultural University, Tamilnadu, and at Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR), Tamilnadu, India. She worked as a sugarcane nematologist at different capacities in Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR) from 1976-96 and also as Head of the Plant Protection Division from 1996 till her retirement. Most of her career has been devoted to working on the sugar cane nematodes and promoted training of young nematologists especially those from remote areas of India. She guided ten Ph.D. students and most of them won prestigious awards. She had published 212 research papers in international and national journals. She won the prestigious Outstanding Women Agricultural Scientist Award-1998 from ICAR. The prestigious Kulapati K. M. Munshi award for the year 2006 has been conferred for contributions in the field of Agricultural Sciences and Research by the Coimbatore Kendra of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. In recognition of her scientific contributions she was conferred fellowship of Afro-Asian Society of Nematologists in 1994. She was the Charter President of Rotary club of Coimbatore satellite and was the Assistant Governor of the District. She was honoured with lifetime achievement award by the Rotary club of Coimbatore Satellite in 1998. She was the basic studies Board Member, Senate and Planning Board Member of Bharathiar University besides Mother Therasa University - Kodaikanal, India. An additional stone to her scientific throne is the construction of an auditorium by her at the Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India with the cost of half a million US dollars. This scientific monument is planned to be dedicated to the public in February 2007 by the honourable President of India.

Sundararaj
University of Idaho
USA

Joseph Neal Sasser

1921-2005

Joseph (Joe) Neal Sasser, pioneer and world authority on root-knot nematodes and a man of dignity and affable humor, died on August 17, 2005, at the age of 84. In 1938, he enrolled in Wake Forest College on a baseball scholarship and eventually transferred to N. C. State College. Upon graduation in 1943, he entered Midshipman's school at Northwestern University in Chicago, and subsequently served a 3-year tour of duty in the U. S. Navy on a sea-going rescue tug. From 1946 to 1948, Joe worked in the agricultural chemicals industry. It was at this time that nematologist A.L. Taylor inspired Joe to study plant-parasitic nematodes. He earned an M. S. degree at N.C. State College and the Ph. D. degree from the University of Maryland. In 1953 Joe returned to N.C. State, assuming research and teaching duties in the Plant Pathology Department. He developed an extensive research program that involved many graduate students. Joe also addressed the urgent need for nematological education programs, developing graduate courses focusing on plant-parasitic nematodes, and organizing a number of workshops designed primarily for training scientists from other disciplines. With financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Joe and colleagues from around the world taught an intensive graduate summer course that resulted in the 1960 publication of a much needed comprehensive textbook on plant nematology. During his involvement in N.C. State University's USAID mission to Peru, Joe developed an interest in a global approach to the root-knot nematode problem. By the mid 1970s, he had conceptualized, organized and implemented his widely acclaimed "International Meloidogyne Project" (IMP). That program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed primarily at coordinating and promoting research on root-knot nematodes in many regions of the world, where nematodes alone and in combination with other disease agents cause extensive crop losses. About 200 cooperators from 70 countries, organized in eight project regions, participated in the IMP. Through that program, more than 1000 nematode populations of Meloidogyne species from around the world became available for comparative studies, including fundamental and applied research. The IMP also facilitated global training programs in nematology, and in 1983 sponsored a comprehensive special course at N. C. State University on Meloidogyne and other nematodes. The lectures presented by world experts resulted in the two-volume set "An Advanced Treatise on Meloidogyne." The International Meloidogyne Project was one of USAID's most successful efforts. Joe's contributions to nematology and agriculture brought him many honors. These include the Oliver Max Gardner award, a statewide University of North Carolina award for contributions to higher education and service to humanity and honorary memberships in two nematology societies - "SON" and "ONTA". He also was the first Vice-President and the second President of the Society of Nematologists. Joe retired in 1989, after 36 years of research and service. Still, he continued to live a full life during the ensuing 16 years. His pride in his large family and the achievements of his former graduate students and colleagues undoubtedly helped him sustain an intense interest in life - including nematology - until his sudden departure from life on August 17th. He is survived by Laura Elizabeth (Lib) Long Sasser - his wife of 60 years, 3 daughters, 1 son, 2 sisters, 11 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.