Laurence Moore '61 M.S., '65 Ph.D. Plant Pathology

Laurence Moore, professor emeritus of plant pathology at Virginia Tech was head of the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science from 1984 to 1997. His research involving disease physiology and air pollution received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of Agriculture, the South Africa Research Council and others.

He chaired many departmental, university, and professional committees and served on technical committees and grant review panels for the EPA, USDA and the National Science Foundation.

From 1997 to 2003 Moore was special assistant to the Provost for Diversity. Moore and a colleague established and funded a program for the recruitment, retention and graduation of low income/first generation undergraduate and graduate students. Ninety-two percent of the students in this program graduated in four years.

He is also a flotilla Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Moore graduated from Penn State in 1961 with a master's degree in plant pathology and in 1965 received his doctorate. He has earned teaching and service awards for his department, college, university and professional societies/organizations. He lives in Radford, Va. with his wife Mary Ann. In 2007 they established the "Laurence D. and Mary Ann Moore Faculty and Staff Award in Plant Pathology."