David Richard Viglierchio
David
Richard Viglierchio was born November 25, 1925 in Madera, California, and
graduated from Madera Union High School in 1943. With his undergraduate
training interrupted by military service in France and Germany during 1944-1946,
he obtained a BS in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in
1950. Dr. Viglierchio was awarded his Ph.D. in Bio-organic Chemistry by the
same institution in 1955. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Viglierchio’s
graduate research on plant wound hormones attracted the attention of Dr. Dewey
J. Raski, then chair of the Department of Nematology. Dr. Raski had obtained
grant funding from the Beet Sugar Development Foundation, which was concerned
with the heavy losses caused by the sugar-beet nematode,
Heterodera schachtii.
Dr. Viglierchio was selected to work on the grant as a Junior Research
Nematologist until a faculty position became available from state funds in 1958
when he was appointed Assistant Nematologist. He rose through the academic
ranks to Lecturer and Nematologist before his retirement in 1990. He served as
chair of the then Division of Nematology at UC Davis from 1978-1984.
During the course
of his career, Dr. Viglierchio fostered and enjoyed close and productive
relationships with several graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting
scientists. He conducted research with colleagues in Italy and Switzerland on
Fulbright and Guggenheim awards and lectured in nematology in the former USSR
and in China. He accompanied Rev. R.W. Timm on an expedition to Antarctica
which was successful in collecting many new nematode species as well as
specimens from remote type localities that required more extensive description.
David
Viglierchio’s major fields of research interest were the biochemical
relationships of plant-parasitic nematodes and their host plants, nematode
behavior, and the adaptation of nematodes to nematicides and environmental
stressors. His interests often expanded into complex, non-traditional areas and
he proved very resourceful in developing procedures and techniques. His research
added significantly to our knowledge of nematode behavioral responses and
patterns, hatching factors, host plant resistance, and nematode physiology and
biochemistry. His broad interest in nematodes and nematology is evident in the
very readable book that he self published in 1991, The World of Nematodes.
David Viglierchio
died September 28, 2005 and was buried in Madera, California. He is survived by
his wife, Rena Sue Crook, and his son, David Richard Viglierchio II.
Return
to Pioneers Menu
Go to Nemaplex Home Page
David
Richard Viglierchio was born November 25, 1925 in Madera, California, and
graduated from Madera Union High School in 1943. With his undergraduate
training interrupted by military service in France and Germany during 1944-1946,
he obtained a BS in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in
1950. Dr. Viglierchio was awarded his Ph.D. in Bio-organic Chemistry by the
same institution in 1955. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Viglierchio’s
graduate research on plant wound hormones attracted the attention of Dr. Dewey
J. Raski, then chair of the Department of Nematology. Dr. Raski had obtained
grant funding from the Beet Sugar Development Foundation, which was concerned
with the heavy losses caused by the sugar-beet nematode,
Heterodera schachtii.
Dr. Viglierchio was selected to work on the grant as a Junior Research
Nematologist until a faculty position became available from state funds in 1958
when he was appointed Assistant Nematologist. He rose through the academic
ranks to Lecturer and Nematologist before his retirement in 1990. He served as
chair of the then Division of Nematology at UC Davis from 1978-1984.