Welcome to the Department of Plant Pathology at WSU!

From the Department Chair

Tim Murray

 If you are looking for graduate training opportunities, employment or professional development opportunities or want to know more about the research, teaching and extension programs carried out by our faculty, the various links on this web site have the information you are looking for.

The plant pathology faculty are located on the WSU main campus in Pullman and at Research and Extension Centers in Mt. Vernon, Prosser, Puyallup, and Wenatchee.  We are also home to several USDA-ARS research groups.  The USDA scientists hold adjunct faculty appointments in our department.

The department offers one of the most comprehensive plant pathology programs in the country.  We are engaged in a wide range of research activities that address biological, molecular, epidemiological, and biotechnological investigations into diverse groups of microorganisms that threaten the sustainability and profitability of numerous economically important crops.  Protecting crops from destructive diseases and ensuring plant health by using environmentally friendly and sustainable strategies are some of the core strengths of our department.  The commitment to achieving excellence in research, teaching, extension and student mentoring by our faculty have earned them several awards: Alexopoulos Prize, NIFA Partnership Award, Mentor of the Year, Fulbright Scholar, Fulbright Specialist, Regents Professor, Eminent Faculty, Woman of Distinction, Kenneth Morrison Extension Award, Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, APS International Service Award, APS Excellence in Extension Award, APS Excellence in Teaching Award, Mycological Society of America’s The William H. Weston Award for Excellence in Teaching, WSU Sahlin Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Sahlin Award for Excellence in Outreach and Engagement, just to name a few.  Our Emeritus Faculty include a former president of WSU, and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

The department is proud to have one of the largest plant pathology graduate programs in the country today. Faculty and staff are committed to student success. We offer a variety of professional development opportunities to our graduate students. Our current group of graduate students includes two Fulbrighters and three ARCS Fellows. Our graduates have been successful in their careers in academia, government and industry nationally and internationally.

In recognition of the pioneering research conducted by our faculty, newly discovered organisms were named after them by our peers!  Two of our faculty are immortalized by their peers by naming new genera or species of fungi after them: Genus Carrismyces, Curvibasidium rogersii, and Poroleprieuria rogersii.

I hope you will find the website informative and useful. Also, don’t forget to click on the ‘What’s New” link and follow us on Twitter (@WSUPlantPath) . Here you will find some of the recent happenings in the department.

With best wishes,

Timothy D. Murray
Department Chair