Yolo County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....RICK , Charles May 5 2002 ********************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/obits/ca/obitsca.htm ********************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net September 2, 2004, 7:32 pm "The Davis Enterprise," Friday, May 10, 2002 Charles Rick UCD botany pioneer dead at 87 Charles Rick, a plant geneticist and botanist recognized by many as the world's leading authority on the biology of the tomato, died May 5, 2002, in Davis. A professor emeritus at UC Davis, he was 87. His family is planning a June open house in his honor for friends and colleagues. In accordance with his wishes, no formal services will be held. Something of a modern-day Charles Darwin and Indiana Jones combined, Rick was equally at home in the classroom, greenhouse, laboratory and field. His research expeditions took him from the Galapagos Islands to high in the Andes, where he criss-crossed rugged terrain to collect hundreds of wild tomato species. These wild species contained a wide range of genetic variation that was missing from the modern domestic tomato. During his career, he made landmark contributions in the areas of plant genetics, evolution, genome mapping and archiving the seeds of tomatoes and related plant species. In 1967, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors for research scientists. "Among his colleagues, Dr. Rick was considered the quintessential scientist," said UCD professor John Yoder, chairman of the department of vegetable crops. "His passion was learning and discovery, not fortune or fame. He had a contagious enthusiasm for biology that impacted and motivated all who knew him." Born in 1915 in Reading, Pa., Rick grew up working in orchards and participating in nature studies through the Boy Scouts. He earned a bachelor's degree in horticulture in 1937 from Pennsylvania State University, where he met and married Martha Overholts. The couple then moved to Cambridge, Mass., where he earned a doctoral degree in genetics from Harvard University in 1940. He came to UCD in 1940 as a faculty member in the vegetable crops department, launching a career that would span more than 60 years. A colleague soon suggested that Rick investigate what was wrong with "bull" tomato plants, vines that seemed to pour all of their energy into vegetative growth without producing any fruit. At first, the proposed project struck Rick as "a damn fool thing to think about," he admitted in later years. But he became convinced that the problem merited investigation and went on to discover a host of genetic conditions in the sterile tomato plants. He was able to identify the genetic causes for flower infertility and define several single-gene mutants that are now used to provide commercial hybrid tomato seed. His studies led him to construct a genetic "linkage map" that pinpointed the locations of many mutant or variable genes on each of the tomato's 12 chromosomes. It was the beginning of his pioneering effort to map the tomato's entire collection of genes, now known as its genome. Rick's early work laid the foundation for molecular maps that today make the tomato genome one of the best-mapped plant genomes. His efforts to identify the genetic basis of resistance to the nematode -- a tiny worm pest -- made it possible to develop nematode-resistant tomato varieties. Because the tomato has been so well characterized genetically, it now serves as a research model for plant scientists and can be more readily modified for commercial use. Perhaps one of his greatest contributions was in establishing and serving as curator for the Tomato Genetics Resource Center at UCD. The center is the largest known collection of tomato seeds in the world. Rick devoted countless hours to collecting, cataloging, maintaining and distributing seeds from wild species and genetic stock. Many primitive varieties and wild species that were collected and maintained at the center are now extinct in their native habitats. Furthermore, many of the unique mutant tomato stocks developed by researchers throughout the world would have been lost without Rick's efforts to archive them. His tireless efforts were recognized in 1990, when the center was renamed the Charles M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center. Over the years he received a host of prestigious awards. They included the Alexander von Humboldt Award in 1993, the Filippo Maseri Florio World Prize for Distinguished Research in Agriculture in 1997 and induction to the American Society of Horticultural Sciences Hall of Fame in 1998. Although officially retired from UCD in 1985, Rick remained active in the field of plant genetics until the age of 85, when health difficulties interfered with his greenhouse and laboratory work. Usually sporting the trademark cloth fishing hat that he wore in both formal and informal settings, he was known as a modest person, full of amusing anecdotes. He had a passion for traveling, the arts, meeting new people and enjoying foreign cultures. He was preceded in death by his wife, Martha, and is survived by his daughter, Susan Rick Baldi, and son, John Rick, who are academics at Santa Rosa Junior College and Stanford University. He also leaves three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A scholarship fund is being established in Rick's memory that will help support South American students and scholars interested in promoting biodiversity in the Andes. Contributions should be made payable to the Charles Rick Scholarship Fund and sent in care of Professor John Yoder, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616-8687. Additional Comments: Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/obits/gob1460rick.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/caobfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb