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In Memoriam: Dr. Dick Peters
Recently, we were informed that our former colleague Dr. Dick Peters had passed away at the age of 91 years.
He was born in Groot-Ammers and for most of his life, he lived in Wageningen with his wife with whom he got one son. Dick left school at the age of 14 to succeed his father at the family dairy farm, but after some years he realized that farming was not his future. After military service and successfully passing exams, he was admitted to the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU), where he obtained a degree specializing in plant virology. He graduated in 1967 from this University on a PhD thesis entitled “Potato leafroll virus, its purification from its vector Myzus persicae”, while working as research assistant and junior scientist in the just established Laboratory of Virology, where he would stay for the rest of his scientific career. His research was dominated by rhabdoviruses and tospoviruses, focusing on the transmission of plant viruses by insect vectors. During his entire career, he kept a main interest in virus disease problems in the field and made regular visits to agricultural areas all over the world. He considered solving the mystery of the spread of Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) in irrigated rice in Mali as the crown of his work. He also had a main interest in teaching undergraduates and supervised close to thirty PhD students. For his substantial contribution in the field of plant virology Dick was appointed Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau. After his official retirement in 1997 he remained scientifically active by performing experimental studies and consultive work. It is noteworthy that a scientific paper describing his impressive database about all relevant plant virus transmission literature (available online through WUR library), was submitted this week for publication. We owe Dick Peters an impressive legacy for his broad knowledge on plant viruses and the training of many young scientists. We will not easily forget his perseverance to unravel plant virus biology and his regular appearance in the laboratory up to a very high age.
Monique van Oers, René van der Vlugt en Richard Kormelink.