Gary Brewer, Mustapha Debboun and Michelle S. Smith were named honorary members of the ESA.
Gary Brewer, a professor of Entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was one of three entomologists who were selected as Honorary Members of the Entomological Society of America (ESA). Honorary Membership acknowledges those who have served ESA for at least 20 years through significant involvement in the society. Candidates for this honor are selected by the ESA Governing Board and then voted on by the ESA membership.
Two other honorary members were also selected: Mustapha Debboun, general manager at the Delta Mosquito and Vector Control District, and Michelle S. Smith from Corteva Agroscience. This year's honorees will be recognized during Entomology 2024, November 10-13, in Phoenix, AZ.
Brewer received his Ph.D. in entomology from Kansas State University in 1984. His M.S. in entomology (1978) and B.S. in zoology (1974) were from the University of Nebraska. He joined the entomology department at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in 1985 as an assistant professor and was chair from 1999 to 2006. From 2006 through 2018, he was head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Overall, he has served in departmental leadership roles for 21 years.
Brewer has been a member of the Entomological Society of America since 1977 and has served on many ESA committees. He was secretary and chair of section Fa, Host Plant Resistance to Insects, and served two terms on the Governing Board as the North Central Branch representative. His service to the North Central Branch has included committees (often as chair), symposia organizer, twice as local arrangements co-chair, and NCB president in 2004-05. An early ESA accomplishment was being a member of the winning team from Kansas State University at the first national Entomology Games competition in San Diego in 1983.
He has provided significant leadership to other relevant organizations. He served as secretary and chair of the Council of Entomology Department Administrators (CEDA), which is now an ESA affiliate organization. He was a member of the Board of Representatives of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), first as the CEDA representative and later to represent ESA. He also chaired the CAST Plant Work Group.
He also provided service to other scientific societies or organizations. He was president of the Kansas Entomological Society in 2018, the UNL Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta in 2019, and the Sigma Xi chapter at North Dakota State University in 1994.
He stepped away from the department head position at UNL after 12 years and rejoined the faculty in 2019 as professor of insect management with research and teaching responsibilities. He is currently teaching a graduate and undergraduate integrated pest management class and an undergraduate crops entomology class. His major research thrust has shifted from crops to veterinary IPM, with emphases on novel strategies and tactics. Other efforts include collaborations in crop IPM systems and conservation of the federally endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle. He has published over 50 refereed papers and has generated more than $4 million in external funding.
Over his career, he has taught 12 different classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including classes taught totally online, and he has been responsible for a large range of degree programs. As department chair or head, he oversaw entomology Ph.D. and M.S. programs at UNL and NDSU. In addition, as the entomology department head at UNL he concurrently managed insect science, forensic science, and applied science undergraduate majors and at NDSU he was coordinator for the plant protection major.
A recent international activity was leading a design team in developing and implementing an experiential-based major in conservation agriculture for the Rwandan Institute for Conservation Agriculture, a Bachelor of Science degree-awarding institution that accepted its first students in the fall of 2019, with the first batch of students graduating in 2023.
More details about these winners may be found at https://entsoc.org/news/press-releases/2024-honorary-members.