Source: John Leslie, 785-532-6176, jfl@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/lesliebio.html
News release prepared by: Greg Tammen, 785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

K-STATE PROFESSOR NAMED HONORARY MEMBER OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

MANHATTAN -- John Leslie, department head and professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University, is a new honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Leslie was inducted into the academy May 3 based on his career achievements, according to the academy's nomination committee.

To be considered for membership in the academy, candidates must be active scientists in a foreign country whose research is recognized on an international level is and especially pertinent to Hungarian scientists. Honorary members must also neither live in Hungary nor have a connection to Hungary via their parentage.

Members are elected once every three years, with 35 members elected in 2010.

Leslie now joins the ranks of 240 honorary members -- some of whom are Nobel Prize winners. He will have his biography printed, in Hungarian, in one of the academy's booklets.

Leslie's contributions to the field of plant pathology include 133 scientific papers, six books and 24 book chapters. Several of his papers are highly regarded in the field, including one that gave a new synthesis of the evolutionary consequences of molecular recombination events, and another paper which shed new light on the role of vegetative incompatibility in preserving pathogenic traits. He also created the first well-received map of G. moniliformis, a crop pathogen, particularly of maize.

Currently, Leslie has focused on the diversity of toxigenic molds and the genetic background of population changes. He also serves in an editorial position for the scientific journals Food Additives and Contaminants and Mycological Research. He is an adjunct professor at Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, and a research associate at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney, Australia.

Since joining K-State in 1984, Leslie has received numerous scientific awards and scholarships, including being a senior Fulbright Scholar in Sydney, Australia; an honorary Fellow at St. Paul's College, University of Sydney, Australia; a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society; and named Outstanding Senior Scientist by Kansas State University's chapter of Sigma Xi.

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1825, nearly 40 years prior to the U.S. Academy of Sciences. More information about the academy is available at http://www.mta.hu/.