Tom Byers 1935-2003

Molecular Genetics Professor Tom Byers died September 21, 2003. According to his Department Chair Lee Johnson, Byers was OSU's first "molecular biologist" and an original member and founder of the Molecular Genetics Department. Byers was a founder and the first director of the Graduate Program in Developmental Biology (now the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Program). Byers served as Associate Dean of the College of Biological Sciences from 1990-1995.

Byers received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1958, Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962 and came to Ohio State in 1964. He did research on an ameba that causes corneal eye infections in humans. He belonged to the Society of Protozoologists, the American Society for Microbiology and founded the International Conference on Free-living Pathogenic Amoebae.

Many reading this, will remember Byers as a teacher, mentor and friend. Byers' ability to balance an active research program with teaching and administrative duties was legendary. Busy he might be, but his students were never shortchanged. His "lunch hour" was usually dedicated to students: meeting with his TA's, helping students select slides for a presentation or talking with students who always felt free to drop by.

As associate dean, Byers juggled many responsibilities, including serving as building coordinator for the Biological Sciences building and troubleshooter for a variety of problems that construction of the Riffe Laboratory Building generated. Familiar building sights during Byers' associate deanship: Byers with shirt sleeves rolled up, helping move furniture; atop stepladders checking for ceiling leaks; or mopping up the aftermath.

But those duties closest to his heart were people-related: affirmative action, junior faculty development and mentoring initiatives, especially those involving minority graduate students. During his first year in the Dean's Office, he thought a lot about making the college a friendlier place and made an effort to find out what people's needs were. Byers guiding philosophy as an administrator was his belief that it was essential to "learn to be a good listener...finding out what really is wanted and needed. It's easy to generate all kinds of ideas, but the good ideas undoubtedly will come from the people affected by them."

All who knew Tom Byers were affected by him: his concern for others, his considerate and kindly nature, his unassuming modesty, his positive and upbeat outlook in the face of adversity. He will be missed.

John D. Briggs 1926-2002

John D. Briggs died November 27, 2002 at his home in Worthington, Ohio. Briggs, who was a professor emeritus of entomology, received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He was employed as Associate Entomologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey from 1955-1959 and then became Head of Entomology at the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation, Wasco, CA, where he was involved with the development of the first US commercial Bacillus thuringiensis product, Thuricide.

He joined the Department of Entomology at Ohio State in 1962. He served as professor and associate dean of the newly-formed College of Biological Sciences 1967-1969. In 1965, Briggs became director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for the Biological Control of Vectors at OSU and served WHO for many years in other capacities. He was also Coordinator of Life Sciences in the Second Indonesian University Development Project. Additionally, he collaborated with laboratories in Nigeria, Mexico, Czechoslovakia and several other countries.

Briggs had a deep commitment to taking his expertise out into the "real world," giving on-site training for people who have to do the actual field work. He said, "You have to remember we are dealing with students-in field crews, we are helping people who do not have technical backgrounds. Improvisation is the biggest lesson they can learn from us; we teach them to use what's available."

Briggs was a master at using what was available. He once related how the problem of sterilization was solved at a field site: "We waited until the noon lunch dishes were ready to be washed. When the water was boiling over an open fire, we sterilized the equipment along with the lunch dishes. You have to utilize what's available."

Briggs was an active member and officer of several professional societies. Briggs' doctoral research on humoral immunity of insects, published in 1958, was one of the earliest studies to explore this area of research that eventually led to the discovery of valuable antimicrobial agents in insects. Briggs is remembered fondly for his mentoring of scientists who continue to contribute to the field of invertebrate pathology. He is also remembered with affection by those who knew him as a colleague-a man of deep commitments, unswerving courtesy and kindness-a true "gentleman and scholar."

-S.R.