The Lipman Log Newsletter, 2012

Lipman Log The Lipman Log JULY, 2012 www.dbm.rutgers.edu News from the Chair Our Annual Microbiology Symposium continues to bring together all microbiologists on campus with speakers from SEBS, the School of Arts and Sciences, the Camden and Newark campuses, and also Robert Wood Johnson medical schools (see page 5). In February 2012 we had the pleas- ure of welcoming back Rutgers alum, Dr. Ste- phen Picataggio (Ph.D. 1983, Chief Scientific Officer, Verdezyne Inc.), who worked under the direction of Prof. Doug Eveleigh. His keynote News from the Chair, Max Häggblom presentation was on the applications of syn- thetic biology for metabolic engineering of in- Summer greetings from Lipman Hall! Some of dustrial microbes. the highlights from the 2011-2012 academic year are included in this issue. Rutgers Day-AgField Day continues to be a fun Inside this issue: event: “Boisterous biochemistry and marvelous Our scholarly and educational programs in microbiology” is our program theme. As in previ- Chair News 1 biochemistry and microbiology are flourishing ous years, the G.H. Cook Biochemistry and Mi- and our core courses continue to be filled to crobiology Undergraduate Student Club coached Biochemists 2 capacity. Our faculty members are leading budding scientists in building their own mi- many exciting new research projects. Please crobes. We also initiated a straw-poll for the ASM Student Chapter 3 browse through this issue to read more on the State Microbe that is still continuing - so you can various activities and accomplishments of our send in your vote. With a State bird, insect, fish, In Print 4 students and faculty, and the awards that they flower and fruit, is it not time for a State Mi- have received. crobe? (see back page). Microbiology Symposium 5 2012 The newly established Graduate Program in We welcome three new instructors Drs. Nathan Our Faculty 6 Microbial Biology is thriving, with a third class Astrof, Kyle Murphy and Ines Rauschenbach, of students beginning their studies this fall. who join the department as Instructors in Bio- Our department provides the leadership for chemistry and Microbiology with appointments Ph. D Theses-2010-2011 8 this SEBS-based Graduate Program rooted in beginning this July. the rich traditions of microbiology at Rutgers Our Department 10 with over 40 faculty members from over ten Some much needed laboratory and office reno- departments and institutes across the New vations are finally close to completion (for now). Brunswick campus. The program is focused on What’s Shaking/Grants 11 There are still many laboratories left in their microbial life processes and their applications, original 1950s conditions, so there is much left offering advanced study on the biology of mi- Vote for State Microbe 12 to do. As always, I wish to thank all our donors croorganisms. Core funding for our entering for your support. We hope that you will contin- students comes from two endowed graduate ue to show your support for the department in fellowships, The H. Boyd and Jeanette I. Wood- the future. ruff Microbiology Fellowship in the field of Soil and Environmental Microbiology and the recently established James Macmillan Fellowship in Microbiology. Page 2 Lipman Log Our Biochemists Some memories from Dr. Theo vanEs as he retires “The world needs new ways to with over 42 years at Rutgers. I was born in grow food” is the title of an op-ed Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1932 and lived in Hol- published in the Newark Star- land until late 1945. As a child I experienced the Ledger on March 27. It is by Pe- Second World War first hand: five year occupation ter Kahn and can be found at the by Germans, bombed out of our home by allied url below. strikes and the hunger and deprivation of the last year of the war. My parents and I immigrated in late 1945 to South Africa, at the invitation of my mother’s sister who was living in South Africa. I completed high school in Johan- nesburg and went on to work as a laboratory technician in a pet- http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2012/03/ rochemical refinery. After two years of working in the refinery, I the_world_needs_new_ways_to_gr.html enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) as a chemistry physics major, on a Johannesburg Municipal Scholarship. I com- The op-ed arose from a paper, “Investing in Perennial Crops pleted my Bachelors of Science and Bachelors of Science honors to Sustainably Feed the World” which appeared in the Sum- in Chemistry. I worked as an industrial chemist for two years mer, 2011, issue of Issues in Science and Technology, a until I was invited back to Wits Chemistry Department as a lectur- quarterly journal published jointly by the National Acade- er (equivalent to an assistant professor). In addition to my teach- mies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. The paper was ing obligations, mainly large freshman chemistry lectures and coauthored by Kahn, Thomas Molnar, C. Reed Funk and labs, I was working on my Ph.D research under the guidance of Gengyun Zhang. Dr. Molnar is a colleague in the depart- the Head of the Department and Rhodes Scholar, Professor ment of Plant Biology & Pathology, Dr. Funk is Professor Backeberg. Emeritus in the same department, while Dr Zhang earned his doctorate with Dr. Funk and also studied with Kahn. I obtained my Ph.D after four years of research in the general area of a new synthesis of benzil derivatives. This research led to The project is a proposal to set up perennial plant research a number of publications. In 1962 I went on a sabbatical leave to stations all around the world to reclaim damaged land, es- the Biochemistry Department at Purdue University under the pecially sloping land which erodes when annual crops are auspices of Professor Roy Whistler. It was a difficult year, as our planted on it. The plants would include many kinds of trees family of five (3 young children) had to live in a small university to provide food, woody biomass for construction and fuel, apartment with limited financial resources! oil and other products. The stations would also develop grasses and other plants to be planted in mixed cultures At this time my research started to divert into the area of syn- among trees and on land presently unable to sustain trees. thetic carbohydrate chemistry which persisted for a number of In combination the plants in each region would stabilize and years. After a year at Purdue, I returned to Wits, where I was enrich soil, increase water percolation into aquifers used for promoted to Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor). irrigation, reduce or prevent mud slides, and absorb large I transferred for about two years to the Witwatersrand Medical amounts of carbon dioxide. There would be 3-5 stations School in the Department of Biochemistry and Physiology. From each in China, South Asia, Africa, South America, North Wits, I went to Rutgers College in the Department of Biochemis- America, the Middle East, Australia and Japan Each would try and have spent the last forty two (plus) years at Rutgers. I be endowed with $20-$40 million dollars, which at 5%-7% experienced many changes, promotions to Associate Professor to average annual income, would yield enough to run the sta- Full Professor with all the attendant heartaches, worries and dis- tions. The funds would be raised privately, as governmental appointments. Reorganization which resulted in the formation of and commercial support is short term, while perennial plant Faculty of Arts and Sciences. I was Department Chair for a num- development is longer term. ber of terms as well as Director of the Biochemistry Graduate Program, and a Fulbright Award from Botswana. These ideas arose because Dr. Funk, a plant breeder with encyclopedic knowledge of plants worldwide, had his office Reorganization at Rutgers caused a great deal of disagreements directly above Dr. Kahn’s. They found themselves going to and led eventually after many confrontations about faculty rights lunch together frequently, and the conversations led to the and responsibilities, to my removal from FAS to the Department collaboration. Many of the ideas have their origin in J. Rus- of Biochemistry and Microbiology on the Cook Campus. An en- sell Smith’s book, Tree Crops: A Perennial Agriculture, which forced move, perhaps, but I have no regrets, only appreciation! was first published in 1929 and in revised form in 1950. So we have come to a long tale of having taught thousands of students over nearly 55 years, an appreciable amount of research resulting in nearly 75 papers and a patent, the content of which, to this day is producing valu- able pharmaceutical products. A full life in- deed! Shorty, I will turn 80 years old. My wife and I will move to Knoxville, Tennessee where, hopefully, I will be afforded the opportunity there to interact with students. I will sorely miss Cook College, the Department of Bio- chemistry and Microbiology and all of you! Lipman Log Page 3 David Pramer- The ASM Founders Distinguished Service Award David Pramer was recently asked by the American Society for Microbiology to reflect on his being awarded the ASM Founders Distinguished Service Award. For perspective, David was the first Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology [newly formed from the Departments of Ag Bio- chemistry and Ag Microbiology on Dr. Starkey's retirement] and Past Director of the Waksman Insti- tute. He also served the University as Director of Biological Sciences, Director of University Research, Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs, and Associate Vice President for Cor- porate Liaison. David has kindly shared his thoughts.

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