LAWRENCE, KS, December 13, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Robert William Lichtwardt, PhD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Lichtwardt celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Mycologist and professor emeritus at Kansas University, Dr. Lichtwardt taught botany, mycology, plant pathology, and medical mycology during his tenure. He taught at Kansas University from 1957 to 1994 before retiring. During those impressive years, he mentored numerous PhD and Master's degree students and was a recognized mentor and leader in his department. His research consisted of the evolution, ecology, biogeography, and diversity of trichomycetes, a group of fungi in the division Zygomycota that grow in the guts of arthropods living in aquatic habitats.
Dr. Lichtwardt's research over the course of his near 40-year career resulted in the publication of more than 150 papers, contributions to several book chapters, and a monograph of the trichomycetes, which was published online 2001, and included an interactive key for identifying species that is now curated by Dr. D.B. Strongman at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He also authored "The Trichomycetes: Fungal Associates of Arthropods" in 1986. The book speaks to the specialized dependence of the unique group of fungi, the trichomycetes, upon certain anthropods.
Known worldwide for pioneering studies in the tropics, expanding work on marine taxa, and collaborating internationally with other mycologists, Dr. Lichtwardt first earned his undergraduate degree at Oberlin College in 1949, Master's degree in Botany at the University of Illinois in 1951, and PhD in Botany at the University of Illinois in 1954. As one of the first to receive a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation in 1954, he used the funds to do field work in Panama and the Amazon region of Brazil. In 1955, he received a postdoctoral position at the University of Iowa, where he remained for two years before accepting his first teaching role at the University of Kansas as an assistant professor.
During his years at the university, Dr. Lichtwardt served as assistant, associate, and full professor. He also served as chairman of the botany department twice. Recognized by the Mycological Society of America with a William H. Weston Award for Teaching Excellence in Mycology in 1982, and a Distinguished Mycologist Award in 1991, he has also been included in every edition of Who's Who in America between 1996 and 2014, as well as many editions of Who's Who in Science and Engineering and Who's Who in the Midwest.
A life member and former president of the Mycological Society of America and an honorary member of the British Mycological Society and the Japan Mycological Society, Dr. Lichtwardt was born in Rio de Janeiro and married Elizabeth Thomas, with whom he has two children.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Robert William Lichtwardt, PhD, has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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