Frank Leslie Howard

Frank Leslie Howard was born on June 11, 1903 in Los Angeles, California and died on January 11, 1997. He lived 93 years. His parents were George W. and Henrietta Howard. In 1925, he studied at the Oregon State University and received a bachelors degree in science. During his bachelor degree had a positive influence of H. Barss and he had an interest in Plant Pathology and Mycology. He received a PhD degree in mycology from University of Iowa, in 1930. The title of his doctoral research was “The Life History of Physarum polycephalum” (Howard, 1931) with G. W. Martin as his advisor. He married Dorothy Lee who supported him in the main activities as researcher. However unfortunately she and his daughter died before him. Then, he married with Katherine Winslow, who actually lives with his two daughters (Mrs. Dorothy Congdon and Mrs. Henrietta Howard-Moineau); three step-daughters, two step-sons, 13 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren (Kelman et al., 1998).

Area of Study

Dr. Howard joined the Department of Botany of Rhode Island State College, Kingston in 1932 and worked as a professor of Plant Pathology until 1971 when he retired. The main emphasis of his research was the chemotherapy of diseased trees and the evaluation of organic fungicides to control vegetable and turf diseases. Dr. Howard gained international recognition as Plant Pathologist during his tenure at the University of Rhode Island. During his research at the University of Rhode Island, he strengthened the management of turf diseases. One of his main contributions was the development of a fungicide for Sclerotinia homoeocarpa (dollar spot) control (Kelman et al., 1998). Dr. Howard was an outstanding person in the study of the in vitro culture of Myxomycete plasmodia (Goos, 1997). He published several important papers about his research findings, always kept a high passion for the fungi and was very active and interested member of the Mycology Society of America during his professional life. One of his main contributions was related with Myxomycete life cycle demonstrating that the mitosis in plasmodia is essentially synchronous, occurs only in growing parts, and they are of short period. Furthermore, he continued his research of myxomycete plasmodia and he did a postdoctoral during 2 years at the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts with the prominent mycologist W. H. Weston (Kelman et al., 1998). He published an important paper entitled “Anti-doting the Toxin of Phytophthora cactorum as a Means of Plant Disease Control” (Howard, 1941) and was included as a landmark in the fungicide history in the text “Fungicides and Their Action” (Horsfall, 1945). This paper described the control of tree diseases by chemotherapy and provides an alternative of important vascular tree diseases such as the Dutch elm disease (Kelman et al., 1998). During his teaching period he had a commitment to teaching Plant Pathology and transmit with passion and enthusiasm to his students. An important feature of his personality was the passion and integrity to encourage his students under his direction, and follow the progress after they were established in the field of Plant Pathology. Several students under his influence are outstanding Plant Pathologists and have received award of distinction (Kelman et al., 1998). In 1945, he served as director of Plant Pathology and Entomology Department created in response to the concerns of nurserymen and economic impact due to plant diseases. In 1971, he retired as professor of the University of Rhode Island (Goos, 1997).

Main publications

• “The life history of Physarum polycephalum.”

• “Nuclear division in plasmodia of Physarum.”

• “The role of tree injection of in the control of bleeding canker in hardwoods.”

• “An organic fungicide for turf diseases”

• “Chemical inhibition of springwood development in relation to infection and symptoms of Dutch elm disease.”

• “Stimulation and inhibition of Fusarium by certain compounds of alfalfa root exudate”.

Actually, there is a fellowship established by the American Phytopathological Society Foundation named “Frank L. Howard Undergraduate Fellowship”, to provide and encourage undergraduate students in Plant Pathology and to encourage students to achieve advanced degrees and careers in Plant Pathology.

References

• Anonymous. 1968. Fellows of the American Phytopathological Society. Phytopathology 58: 9-11.
• Beckman, C. H., Howard, F. L. 1957. Chemical inhibition of springwood development in relation to infection and symptoms of the Dutch elm disease. Phytopathology 47:3.
• Fitzaptrick, H. M. 1934. The Mycological Society of America. Mycologia 26: 108-112.
• Horsfall, J. G. 1945. Fungicides and their action. Chronica Botanica, Waltham, Massachusetts. Pp. 240.
• Howard, F. L. 1931. The Life History of Physarum polycephalum. American Journal of Botany. Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 116–133. Botanical Society of America. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2435936.
• Howard, F. L. 1932. Nuclear division in plasmodia of Physarium. Ann. Bot. 46: 461-477.
• Howard, F. L. 1941. Anti-doting toxin of Phytophthora cactorum as a means of disease control. Science. Vol. 94, No. 2441, p. 345. DOI: 10.1126/science.94.2441.345-a. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Howard, F. L. 1941. The role of tree injection in the control of bleeding canker in hardwoods. Phytopathology 31:12.
• Howard, F. L., Keil, H. L. 1947. An organic fungicide for turf diseases. Phytopathology 37:10.
• Goos, R. D. 1997. Frank Leslie Howard 1903-1997. Mycologia. Vol. 89, No. 6, pp. 971–974. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3761120.
• Kelman, A., Beckman, C., Goos, R. D. 1998. Frank Leslie Howard, 1903 to 1997. Phytopathology. Vol. 88, No. 1, pp. 28–28.
• Vogeli, H. E., Howard, F. L. 1970. Stimulation and inhibition of Fusarium by certain compounds of alfalfa root exudate. Phytopathology 60: 1318.