Raymond Gerald Grogan (July 22, 1920 – July 30, 2016) was an American

phytopathologist Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomyc ...

(plant disease researcher). During his career at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, he primarily researched diseases that affected crops like lettuce, tomatoes, and beans. He was the

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the ''

Annual Review of Phytopathology The ''Annual Review of Phytopathology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about phytopathology, the study of diseases that affect plants. It was first published in 1963 as the result of a collaboration between the ...

'' from 1978–1984.

Early life and education

Raymond Gerald Grogan was born on July 22, 1920, in Emma, Georgia, in Dawson County to parents Lula and Raymond Grady Grogan. Both of his parents were educators, and he eventually attended the school where his father was principal. He had a younger sister, Jane. He attended the

University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013 by a merger of North Georgia College ...

where he earned his bachelor's; he then attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

for his master's degree. Grogan served in the Navy during World War II and was enlisted for three years. After his military service, he enrolled at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

and completed a PhD under advisor John Charles Walker, researching diseases of cultivated

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

. He demonstrated that some beans were hyper-sensitive to ''Bean common mosaic virus'', causing necrosis. He also discovered that the virus was seed-borne and transmitted from plant to plant via bean pollen. He graduated in 1948.

Career

Grogan accepted a position at the

in 1948. In 1960, he was made a full professor. From 1969 to 1974, he was the chair of He remained at UC Davis until his retirement in 1985. Grogan researched various pathogens that affected crops. He determined that the yellowing of

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

plants, termed "June yellows", was caused by the ''

Lettuce mosaic virus ''Lettuce mosaic virus'' (LMV) is a typical potyvirus (genus ''Potyvirus'', family ''Potyviridae''), which causes one of the major virus diseases of lettuce crops worldwide. LMV is seed-borne at a low but significant rate (1-10% of the seeds pro ...

''. June yellows could be prevented by using seeds that were resistant to the virus. He also discovered the transmission route of the bacteria ''

Pseudomonas tomato "''Pseudomonas tomato''" is a Gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of ''Pseudomonas syringae,'' but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was recognized as a separate specie ...

'', how to prevent

halo blight Halo blight of bean is a bacterial disease caused by '' Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola''. Halo blight’s pathogen is a gram-negative, aerobic, polar-flagellated and non-spore forming bacteria. This bacterial disease was first discovered in ...

of beans, and the cause of corky root rot in lettuce. He was the

of the ''

'' from 1978–1984. He also served on the editorial boards of the journals ''

Plant Disease Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomyc ...

'', ''Phytopathology'', and ''

Virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

''.

Awards and honors

In 1962, he was awarded the

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

award for outstanding research in vegetable production jointly with Robert N. Campbell. Grogan was elected as a fellow of the

American Phytopathological Society The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is an international scientific organization devoted to the study of plant diseases (phytopathology). APS promotes the advancement of modern concepts in the science of plant pathology and in plant healt ...

in 1969; in 1987 he received its Award of Distinction.

Personal life and death

He married Patricia Viola Smith around 1944. They had four daughters; their marriage ended in 1988 with Patricia's death. Grogan died on July 30, 2016, in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, just after his 96th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grogan, Raymond G 1920 births 2016 deaths American phytopathologists People from Dawson County, Georgia University of North Georgia alumni University of Georgia alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of California, Davis faculty Annual Reviews (publisher) editors