A Tribute To FRAC Chairman Andy Leadbeater
Andy Leadbeater, Chairman of the FRAC Steering Committee, passed away at the end of November 2015. Andy was also the Head of Global Product Biology, Fungicides, for Syngenta. Andy was integral in the development of the science of fungicide resistance management as part of his early work monitoring for resistance to the phenylamides at Ciba-Geigy. He participated directly in FRAC activities; first joining the SBI/DMI Working Group and then shortly thereafter joining the QoI Working Group. He joined the FRAC Steering Committee in 2004 when he took over the chairmanship of the QoI Working Group. Andy became Chair of the FRAC Steering Committee in 2007.
Andy was deeply engaged in the development of resistance management and product stewardship strategies across the industry, helping to secure the long-term effectiveness of many fungicide products for growers around the world. He was an ambassador for resistance management, participating on many committees both within Europe and globally and as an invited speaker at many meetings every year. His broad and deep knowledge of plant pathology and crop protection was well respected and will be missed by his FRAC and Syngenta colleagues as well as the many farmers, crop advisors and researchers with which he interacted.
We will remember Andy Leadbeater for his technical excellence, his positive outlook no matter the difficulty and his willingness to mentor new practitioners in the field of resistance management.
Klaus Stenzel, vice chair of the FRAC SC and chairman of the SBI Working group, will be the interim chair of the FRAC Steering Committee until the election of the new chairman at the Steering Committee meeting in Reinhardsbrunn, Germany in April 2016. Helge Sierotzki will be the interim Chair of the QoI working group.