- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Robbin Thorp (1933-2019), distinguished emeritus professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Leal, professor of biochemistry in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology, said Thorp "epitomizes how emeriti contribute to UC Davis."
Thorp, a 30-year member of the entomology faculty, and a tireless advocate of pollinator species protection and conservation, retired in 1994, but he continued working until several weeks before his death on June 7, 2019, at age 85. In 2014, he co-authored two books: Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton University,) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday). He published more than 50 percent of his papers following his retirement."
“Robbin's scientific achievements during his retirement rival the typical career productivity of many other academic scientists,” said Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, at the time of the legendary entomologist's death. “His contributions in support of understanding bee biodiversity and systematics are a true scientific legacy.”
The video tribute is online at
https://youtu.be/s6fxdg2XZPA?si=u0SG1UvUG34zQxmV.
It includes images and accomplishments of many of the emeriti, meant as a small representation of the achievements of all. (See news story)
In his message, Chancellor May told the new emeriti: "You played a central role in keeping UC Davis at the forefront of excellence. Your continued engagement through teaching, research, volunteering and philanthropy is vital to our continued growth and success. So I encourage you to stay engaged with campus. The UC Davis Emeriti Association is here with resources and support for this newest chapter of your career. Please take advantage of it. Thank you for our dedication to UC Davis and congratulations on reaching this milestone."
Among its many activities, UC Davis Emeriti Association (UCDEA) interviews and records emeriti who have made "significant contributions to the development of the university." (See Video Records Project.)
One of them is Robbin Thorp. (Watch the video here.)
![The legendary Robbin Thorp in front of an almond tree on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The legendary Robbin Thorp in front of an almond tree on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/101806.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's a celebration of (1) the accomplishments of the faculty entering a new chapter in their lives (2) the extraordinary retirement years of the late Robbin Thorp of the Department of Entomology and Nematology; and a congratulatory message by Chancellor Gary May.
The video is online at
https://youtu.be/s6fxdg2XZPA?si=u0SG1UvUG34zQxmV.
"Summer is nearly over, and the fall quarter begins soon," said Leal, professor of biochemistry in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology). "Let's pause and express our gratitude to our colleagues who transitioned to emeriti status this summer."
"For decades, they strived to make UC Davis a better place, and many will remain engaged with research, teaching, and public service," he noted.
Leal said the late Distinguished Emeritus Professor Robbin Thorp (1933-2019) epitomizes how emeriti contribute to UC Davis. Thorp, a 30-year member of the entomology faculty, and a tireless advocate of pollinator species protection and conservation, retired in 1994, but he continued working until several weeks before his death on June 7, 2019, at age 85. In 2014, he co-authored two books: Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton University,) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday). He published more than 50 percent of his papers following his retirement.
- UC Davis offered COVID tests within three weeks of our nation's first known patient with community-acquired COVID-19.
- Their research led to the development of better ceramic and glass materials;
- They helped improve military retention;
- They developed innovative techniques for shoulder and wrist reconstruction;
- They generated one of the world's largest and longest-running systems for monitoring butterfly faunas;
- They led plans for the UC Davis National Cancer Institute to be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center;
- They are film historians who authored books such as Paris in the Dark: Going to the Movies in the City of Light, 1930-1950;
- They helped create the world's first total-body PET scanner;
- They brought a global perspective to the table to create innovative and pragmatic approaches to sustainability;
- Their research showed how music and dance articulate ethnic, gender, regional, and national identities;
- They helped us, and more importantly, lawmakers, understand how the toxic action of pesticides may affect aquatic systems and organisms;
- Their research shed light on the psychological development of young children;
- They unraveled molecular processes leading to arthritis;
- They showed how management controls facilitate strategic alliances and supply chain partnerships;
- They integrated methods from traditional engineering, operation research, and economics to solve water and environmental management problems;
- They provided comprehensive psychiatric services to ethnic and sexual minorities, including refugees and immigrants;
- They colleagues created new approaches for using plants for the production of recombinant proteins with various applications, including medicine;
- They elucidated how natural products influence the function of ion channels in the nervous system;
- They provided emergency medical care and taught nursing, air medical, EMS, and disaster medicine courses;
- They designed programs for teachers to investigate their teaching skills and students' learning;
- They investigated how plants edit and repair DNA;
- They advanced our understanding of infectious diseases and aging in nonhuman primates; and
- Their research led to improvements in bean cultivars in California, the United States, Latin America and Africa;
The video tribute includes images of many of the emeriti, meant as a small representation of the achievements of all.
In his message, Chancellor May told the new emeriti: "You played a central role in keeping UC Davis at the forefront of excellence. Your continued engagement through teaching, research, volunteering and philanthropy is vital to our continued growth and success. So I encourage you to stay engaged with campus. The UC Davis Emeriti Association is here with resources and support for this newest chapter of your career. Please take advantage of it. Thank you for our dedication to UC Davis and congratulations on reaching this milestone."
Among its many activities, UC Davis Emeriti Association (UCDEA) interviews and records emeriti who have made "significant contributions to the development of the university." See Video Records Project.
![The late Robbin Thorp of the Department of Entomology and Nematology The late Robbin Thorp of the Department of Entomology and Nematology](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/101803.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Or, as UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former chair of the Department of Entomology, says: "Most of our colleagues remain so active that we are unaware of their 'retirement' until we see their signature with the suffix emeritus, emerita, or emeriti in an email or another document."
"Meanwhile, we members of the non-emeriti UC Davis faculty are so busy writing grants, manuscripts, and books; performing research and scholarly creative work; teaching; and engaging in critical services to the university and professional societies that we end up with little or no opportunities to get together and thank our faculty colleagues at the time of their retirement."
To honor his UC Davis colleagues, Leal created a video, "Tribute to Our New Emeriti," featuring 24 professors from eight colleges and schools who transitioned to emeriti in 2021-2022.
"The retiring faculty and their predecessors made the university a better place to thrive as we pursue research, scholarly work, and services and fulfill the university's instructional mission," he wrote on his YouTube site.
The video "highlights the accomplishments of those who have allowed us to acknowledge publicly their contributions to the various missions of the university over the last few decades," Leal said.
Leal noted that many "emeriti continue to make relevant contributions to UC Davis, including outstanding achievements in research and scholarly creative work, teaching and mentorship, services to professional societies, and outreach."
In his introductory remarks, Leal called attention to emeritus professor and medical entomologist Robert Washino, via text and images. Washino, who turned 90 this year, "epitomizes how emeriti continue to be engaged with the UC Davis mission," Leal said. "When I interviewed for a faculty position here, about 23 years ago, Bob was chairing the Search Committee."
Washino, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, joined the faculty in 1967, chaired the entomology department from 1981-1987, and served as associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) from 1987 until his retirement in 1993. From 1996 to 2001, he served as special assistant to the CAES Dean. During "retirement," he also directed the Center for Vector-borne Diseases, "which laid the foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-sponsored Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases. Leal serves as one of the principal investigators at the Center, now led by Chris Barker of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Also during his "retirement," Washino chaired the entomology department chair in 2005-2006. "To date, Bob remains as a 'go-to-person' for guidance in our vector biology activities at UC Davis," Leal pointed out. "Bob is an integral part of the UC Davis Emeriti Association that provides crucial support for excellence at UC Davis."
In the video, Leal covers these emeriti:
- College of Biological Sciences: Harris Lewin and Sharon Strauss
- College of Engineering: Bruce Gates
- College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Mark Grismer, Mark Schwartz, Andrew Waterhouse, Beth Ober, Steven Morgan, Edward DePeters and Julian Alston
- School of Medicine: Jay Solnick and Fredric Gorin
- School of Veterinary Medicine: Laurel Gershwin and Frank J. M. Verstraete
- College of Letters and Science: Sandra Carlson, Daniel Cox, Lynnette Hunter, Robert Feenstra, Geerat Vermeij, Robert Bayley and Gina Werfel
- School of Law: Judy Cusumano Janes
- Graduate School of Management: Brad Barber and Chih-Ling Tsai
In closing, Leal commented: "When you learn of a retiring faculty member, please take the opportunity to thank them for their accomplishments and for making the university a better place for us to thrive as we pursue research and scholarly work, services, and fulfill the instructional mission of the university."
He also mentioned the New Emeriti Lecture series in the fall, winter, and spring quarters. "Harris Lewin will deliver the inaugural lecture on Dec. 7, 2022. The winter lecture will be presented by Geerat Vermeij on Feb. 15, 2023. The series ends with the spring lecture by Sharon Strauss on April 19, 2023. All lectures are at 5 p.m., Pacific Time (in person and via ZOOM)."
![This 2006 image of UC Davis medical entomologist Bob Washino (left) shows him with Richard Bohart (1913-2007), for whom the Bohart Museum of Entomology is named. At the time, Washino was serving as chair of the Department of Entomology, and Bohart was being honored with a Distinguished Research Medal from the International Society of Hymenopterists. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) This 2006 image of UC Davis medical entomologist Bob Washino (left) shows him with Richard Bohart (1913-2007), for whom the Bohart Museum of Entomology is named. At the time, Washino was serving as chair of the Department of Entomology, and Bohart was being honored with a Distinguished Research Medal from the International Society of Hymenopterists. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/95699.jpg)