This award honors a graduate of UC Davis who is distinguished in his or her career or in service outside the United States. Specific criteria used during the selection process include 1) advancement of their profession outside the United States and 2) community and public service outside the United States.
The 2013 Emil M. Mrak International Award recipient is Jose Ca
rmine Dianese, M.S. '68, Ph.D. '70
Jose Carmine Dianese of Brasilia,
Brazil, is the 2013 winner of the Emil M. Mrak International Award. This
award honors a graduate who is distinguished in his or her career or in
service outside the United States. In 1970, Dianese became the first
Brazilian to earn a Ph.D. in plant pathology from UC Davis. He’s a
professor emeritus at the University of Brasilia.
Dianese made significant contributions in the study of fungal
biodiversity of the endangered Brazilian cerrado, the tropical savanna
region that makes up 21 percent of the country’s land. Thanks to Dianese, there are more than 100 new fungal species identified in the
area. His specialized expertise leads to frequent speaking invitations.
He continued to advance UC Davis’ impact by acquiring funds to hire
three Ph.D. plant pathologists from UC Davis to his program in Brazil.
In
a career spanning more than 40 years, he directly trained 37 plant
pathologists, 15 of whom went on to become university professors in
Brazil, and one in Chile. The coursework he established graduated nearly
300 plant pathologists. Three of his students continued graduate work
in plant pathology at UC Davis; two of them returned to Brazil, and one
works in Germany.
Previous recipients:
2012 Kathleen Taylor, M.D. '80
2011 John "Tico" McNutt, Ph.D. '95
2010 Dr. Terrance Smith '79
2009 John Landers M.S. '65
2008 Mahmoud A. Abu-Zeid, M.S. ’60, Ph.D. ’62
2007 Sarah Marie Otterstrom, Ph.D. ’04
2005 Qifa Zhang, Ph.D. '85
2004 Richard M. Cirami '63, M.S. '68
2003 Jay Kun Yoo, J.D. '77
2002 Kenneth S. Milne, Ph.D. '68
2001 Arturo Lara-Lopez, Ph.D. '80
2000 Rosanna Y. Wong, M.S.'93, Ph.D. '97
1999 Peter N. Quesenberry, D.V.M. '78, M.P.V.M. '91
1998 Jon K. Andrus, M.D. '79
1997 Thira Sutabutra '64, Ph.D. '68
1996 Jerome Francis Harrington '44
1995 Thomas A. Bickle, Ph.D. '68
1994 Wyland S. Cripe '50, D.V.M. '52
1993 Syed F. Imam '66
1992 Joe Roger Held '53, D.V.M. '55
1991 Gajendra Singh, Ph.D. '73
1990 Gurdev Khush, Ph.D. '60
1989 Charles E. Cornelius '49, '51, D.V.M. '53, Ph.D. '58
1988 Phaitoon Ingkasuwan '53