Helene Roberts Dillard is an American plant pathologist, and academic. She is a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

Education and career

Dillard is originally from California, and graduated from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

with her bachelor's degree in 1977, and then moved to the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

where she earned her master's degree (1979) and Ph.D. (1984). From 1984 to 2014, she was a professor of plant pathology, at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where she was promoted to professor in 1998. In 2013, she moved from Cornell to the University of California, Davis where she was named the dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. As of November 2023, Dillard has announced her retirement from her position as dean of UC Davis's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2024.

Research

Dillard's research centers on agriculture and diseases that impact plants.

Awards and honors

Dillard is a fellow of

American Phytopathological Society The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is an international scientific organization devoted to the study of plant diseases (phytopathology). APS promotes the advancement of modern concepts in the science of plant pathology and in plant heal ...

, and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2021.

References

Living people Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Davis alumni University of California, Davis faculty Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-biologist-stub