Eric G. Sharvelle, 1908-1989
Donald H. Scott and C. Wendell Home
Dr. Eric George Sharvelle, Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology
at Purdue University, died on January
23, 1989, in Lafayette, Indiana. Eric
was an unusual man with an unusual
background and unusual talent.
Independent, articulate, witty, and
charming, he brought honor to his
profession and helped countless students, colleagues, growers, and citizens during his long and productive
career.
Eric was born on August 28, 1908,
in Longfield, Kent, England, and
spent his early childhood in Bombay, India, where his father
was Chief-of-Staff for the British Armed Forces in the Far East.
He received his early education from a private governess in India.
At the age of nine, he returned to England where he completed
his primary education.
Eric was only seventeen when he emigrated alone to Montreal,
Canada, where he entered MacDonald College, McGill University
under a colonization plan of the Canadian Pacific Steamship
Company. At this early age, he already displayed his lifelong
self-reliant nature which helped make him the leader he was to
become. He was among the first of the English public school
students who emigrated to Canada under the colonization plan,
and he periodically returned to England for short visits with his
family by working his passage on cattle boats. He received a
2-year diploma in agriculture from McGill, followed by his B.S.A.
degree in 1930.
In the fall of 1930, he was awarded a Canadian National Research Council Fellowship and entered the University of Alberta
where he earned his M.S. degree in 1932. He then proceeded
to the University of Minnesota where he earned his Ph.D. in
plant pathology under the direction of the legendary E. C.
Stakman in 1934. Upon graduation, he returned to England where
he did postdoctoral studies with Sir E. J. Butler at The Imperial
Mycological Institute, Kew Gardens. In 1935, he returned to
Canada and operated the family-owned 200-acre commercial
apple orchard in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. He began postdoctoral research on the effects of fruit diseases on host physiology
in 1938 at Cornell University under Dr. H. H. Whetzel. In 1939,
he transferred to the New York Agricultural Experiment Station
in Geneva to work on fruit fungicides with Dr. J. M. Hamilton.
There he received a Crop Protection Institute Fellowship to
conduct organic fungicide research under the direction of Dr.
J. G. Horsfall. He accompanied Dr. Horsfall to the Connecticut
Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven to continue his
research on organic fungicides. From this research, the first
commercial organic fungicide, Spergon, was developed and
released, as well as Spergonex and Fungisul. His basic research
later resulted in the introduction of Phygon.
Eric was appointed assistant professor in the Department of
Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota in the fall of
1939 where he conducted research and extension programs in
fruit pathology and fungicides and taught graduate courses. He
accepted the position of associate professor and extension plant
pathologist in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
at Purdue University in 1946 and was promoted to full professor
in 1952. Eric was the first specialist in the Cooperative Extension
Service at Purdue to hold a Ph.D. degree. He remained at Purdue
until his retirement in September 1976 and was named emeritus
professor.
At Purdue, Eric distinguished himself as a knowledgeable
scientist, an excellent plant pathologist, an articulate speaker,
a prolific author, a talented cartoonist, and an outstanding extension educator. He developed extension programs in plant disease
control that formed the basis for current programs. He established
the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic in the department in 1960
to provide assistance and training to county agents in the diagnosis
and control of plant diseases. He started the popular "What's
Cooking in Plant Diseases" newsletter which provided timely
disease and disease control information to county agents, farmers,
and colleagues in surrounding states. He was an articulate,
humorous speaker, and with his British-tinged speech could hold
the attention of an audience, whether researchers, students, or
farmers. He made plant pathology a fascinating, understandable
subject and humorously referred to himself as "The Smut and
Rot Doctor."
Eric was a prolific author who published hundreds of extension
publications and popular articles for trade journals, magazines,
and mass media as well as over 70 scientific papers and experiment
station bulletins. He authored three books, Nature and Uses of
Modern Fungicides (1960), Chemical Control of Plant Diseases
(1968), and Plant Disease Control (1979). He was a pioneer in
the concept of team teaching and demonstration with extension
specialists in allied pest disciplines more than a decade before
integrated pest management became recognized. He distinguished
himself with his leadership, dedication, foresight, and professionalism during the southern corn leaf blight epidemic during
1970-1971. Eric immediately recognized the potential dangers of
the disease to corn production and was a major force in organizing
a response team of research and extension personnel.
Eric was a faithful and staunch supporter of Purdue University
and the concepts of the land grant system and the Cooperative
Extension Service. He developed a rapport with farmers, county
agents, and fellow extension specialists that rarely has been
exceeded. To honor Eric's strong convictions, dedication, and
love for Purdue and Indiana agriculture, his family established
"The Sharvelle Distinguished Extension Specialist Award." This
award has been given yearly since 1985 to a Purdue extension
specialist who has demonstrated an outstanding degree of proficiency and professionalism in the conduct of extension programs
over an extended period of time.
Eric possessed an inquisitive mind and an insatiable desire to
learn throughout his life. In 1968, he took sabbatic leave at Texas
A & M University, and from 1973 to 1977, he worked in Brazil
as a member of the Purdue Research Team. In retirement, he
maintained a strong interest in phytopathology and world affairs
while residing at the family home in Lafayette, Indiana, and a
family condominium on South Padre Island, Texas.
Dr. Sharvelle was awarded the USDA Length of Service Award
for 20 years of service (1967), the Epsilon Sigma Phi 25 Year
Award (1971), the Speaker's Club Award, Miami Beach, Florida
(1969), and was the first honorary member of the Texas Association of Plant Pathology and Nematology, Texas A & M
University (1969). He was a member of Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma
Delta, Epsilon Sigma Phi, American Association for the
Advancement of Science, The Golf Course Superintendent's
Association of America, and The American Phytopathological
Society.
Eric married Gladys McKibbin in Nova Scotia on October
23, 1935. He is survived by Gladys, two daughters, Mrs. Cynthia
Nichelson of Normal, Illinois, and Mrs. Linda Craig of Acton,
Indiana; a son, Derek Sharvelle, M.D., of Battleground, Indiana;
eight grandchildren; and three sisters who live in England. All
who knew or associated with Eric miss him.
Purdue
UNIVERSITY
Vol. 80, No. 11, 1990     1141