Ray Fred Smith (20 January 1919,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

– 23 August 1999, Lafayette) was an American agronomist and entomologist whose research focused on biological methods of

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

pest management. He was a chair of the Entomology Department at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

from 1959 to 1973. He was an editor of the ''

Annual Review of Entomology The ''Annual Review of Entomology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about entomology, the study of insects. First published in 1956 from a collaboration between the Entomological Society of America and Annual ...

'' from 1960 to 1977.

Biography

Smith was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Monterey. He received his BS, MS and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley where he was influenced by E.O. Essig, A.E. Michelbacher, and E.G. Linsley. He joined as a faculty in 1941 at Berkeley and his teaching focused on an ecological approach to insects that examined natural population regulation factors and only sought minimal targeted use of pesticides. He was instrumental in expanding the program to include four subdivisions within the field. During this time, he was also director for the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

for Pest Management and Related Environmental Protection Project with UC/AID, and later, executive director of the Consortium for International Crop Protection. Smith also helped to establish the Panel of Experts on Integrated Pest Control of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

and the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...

. Beginning in 1972, Smith was an associate project director of the Huffaker Project, which coordinated the research of scientists at 18

land-grant universities A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

regarding integrated pest management for six major crops. It was through this endeavor that Smith met and developed breakthrough techniques of

Integrated Pest Management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) is a broad-based approach that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. IPM aims to suppress pest populations below the eco ...

(IPM) with Perry L. Adkisson. By using locally relevant ecological methods to control insects, weeds, and disease, integrated pest management allows farmers to reduce their use of and reliance upon pesticides while increasing profits. Along with Adkisson, Smith was awarded the

World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nor ...

in 1997 for his achievements in implementing IPM both in the United States and in developing countries. He also received the C.W. Woodworth Award for Outstanding Achievements in Entomology of the ESA, an honorary doctorate from College van Dekanen, Wageningen, and a UC Berkeley Citation after his retirement. Smith died on 23 August 1999. He was 80 years old and was survived by his wife Elizabeth, a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ray F. 1919 births 1999 deaths American agronomists Presidents of the Entomological Society of America Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Agriculture and food award winners 20th-century agronomists