Ronald L. Phillips was born in Huntington County, Indiana in 1940. He earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1966). He also had postdoctoral training at Cornell University. He began to teach the following year after graduating and is now a Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in Genomics, University of Minnesota. Those that know of him or have taken his courses may have “heard him speak with pride about his children, Angie and Brett” and his wife Judy (Eisenthal). Phillips has advised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral scientists. He taught courses in plant genetics as a faculty member in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics…show more content… J. Georges, who was known for his work on mapping the genes affecting economically important single-gene and complex multi-gene traits. The two were presented the awards at an award ceremony on May 13, 2007, in Jerusalem (“Phillips, Ronald L”) and came to win this prize “for [the] groundbreaking discoveries in genetics and genomics, laying the foundations for improvements in crop and livestock breeding, and sparking important advances in plant and animal sciences” (“Wolf Prize”). The Wolf Foundation became active in 1976, with an initial endowment of $10 million donated by the Wolf family. The Foundation’s founders and major donors were Dr. Ricardo Subirana Lobo Wolf and his wife Francisca. The objectives of this organization are to award prizes to outstanding scientists without discrimination and to award scholarships and grants. In addition, Dr. Ronald L. Phillips was nominated for the ISA Medal for Science 2010 “by one of the worlds oldest, most revered universities, the University of Bologna, Italy” (Eisenthal). The Siehl Prize in Agriculture from the University of Minnesota was awarded around the same time that he officially retired. The ISA Medal for Science is the highest honor awarded by the Institute "in recognition of research contributions characterized by both excellence and influence (“ISA
