Arthur Kelman
North Carolina State University
December 11, 1918 - June 29, 2009
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Scientific Discipline: Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1976)
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Arthur Kelman was an influential figure in the field of plant pathology. He made noteworthy contributions to the fields of virulence and ecology, and to the control of bacterial plant diseases. He was specifically interested in bacterial diseases affecting commercial crops. For nearly twenty years, Kelman’s research was focused on the soft-rot bacteria that reduce the market quality of potatoes and other fleshy vegetables. His studies and recommendations greatly reduced post-harvest losses, and as a result, consumers have benefited from lower food prices and higher-quality produce.
Kelman received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Rhode Island in 1941. He earned both his master’s (1946) and doctoral (1949) degrees in plant pathology from North Carolina State University. From 1949 to 1965, Kelman taught at North Carolina State University, where he helped to initiate a program in forest pathology in 1959. In 1965 he moved to the University of Wisconsin, where he stayed until his retirement in 1989. Following his retirement, he returned to the Raleigh area and remained actively engaged with North Carolina State University and several professional societies, such as the American Phytopathological Society and the International Society for Plant Pathology.
