Plant Breeders Honor Fredrick Bliss with Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Fredrick Bliss, professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, was honored with the 2020 National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes distinguished long-term service to the plant breeding discipline through research, education, outreach, and leadership. The award will be presented at the 2021 NAPB annual meeting next summer.
Bliss joined the UC Davis pomology department as professor and Lester Endowed Chair in 1988, and later served as department chair and chair of the plant biology grad group. He was a major professor to more than three dozen graduate students and post-doctoral scholars from around the world, and led breeding programs for stonefruit, common bean, tomato, cowpea and tree fruit rootstocks.
Among his many accolades over his 50+ year career, Bliss served as president of the American Society for Horticultural Science, as well as vice president of the research division and chair of the publications and strategic planning committees.
“I have no doubt that Fred Bliss is one of the most outstanding plant breeders the world has seen. This award recognizes his competence and also sends a message to many like myself who had the chance to get to know him — life can be beautiful for people who are able to put together both soft and hard skills in benefit of humanity.”
- A former graduate student
Read more about Dr. Bliss’ contributions as a plant breeder.