UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — David M. Geiser, professor of mycology in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, was elected to the executive leadership of the Mycological Society of America (MSA), where he will serve successive terms as vice president, president-elect, president and past president over the next four years.
Geiser assumed the role of vice president in August, following the society’s annual meeting in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The Mycological Society of America, founded in 1932, is the professional society of mycologists in North America, with the purpose of promoting scientific research and education in all aspects of mycology, or the study of fungi. The society oversees the publication of the journal Mycologia and organizes annual meetings focused on current developments in mycological research. The society has more than 1,000 members from over 50 countries around the world.
“The Mycological Society of America has had a huge positive impact on my scientific career,” Geiser said. “The society has an integral culture of mentorship that’s quite unique, and I consider an MSA meeting to be not only a research conference of academic colleagues, but a reunion of friends. I feel very honored to have been elected and I hope to maintain and extend that culture.”
Geiser’s research focuses on the evolution of fungi, specifically in the genus Fusarium, which includes many pathogens of plants and animals, as well as toxin producers. He has authored and co-authored more than 120 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited over 30,000 times. Geiser, a faculty member in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Biology, teaches a course on the biology of fungi annually and leads “Toadstool Treks” in the fall with the Arboretum at Penn State.
A member of MSA for 32 years, Geiser has received several awards from the society throughout his career, including the Alexopoulos Prize, the group’s early career research award and recognition as a fellow of the society.
Geiser will be the third Penn Stater to be president of the Mycological Society of America, following Lee O. Overholts in 1938 and Frank D. Kern, Penn State’s first dean of the Graduate School, in 1945.