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Snapshots of the Govindjee lab from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, and beyond…

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References

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Acknowledgments

I thank all the past students, research associates, and several collaborators of Govindjee who kindly sent their reminiscences to be included here. I also thank Hyungshim Yoo for careful preparation of the photographic plates used in the Figures and George Papageorgiou for a careful reading of the text and excellent suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Julian J. Eaton-Rye

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  1. Julian J. Eaton-Rye
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Correspondence to Julian J. Eaton-Rye.

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Notes added in the proofs

Christopher Batory (of Westmount, Quebec, Canada), who has been having a yearlong e-mail discussion with Govindjee on the subject of possible life/photosynthesis in outer space, wrote:

“Dear Govindjee,

I always find some excuse around here to say something nice about you, or promote one of your quotes. You are a mentor and guide par excellence, and you can instill a passion for Photobiology in most anyone who crosses your path. But foremost, you can show what life really is and what a kind, loving and patient person you are, a great scientist with humility of the highest order.

With relentless vitality, you are the most youthful 75-year-old I have ever seen.

I enjoyed your recent papers with Nancy Kiang (Kiang et al. 2007a,b) on possible photosynthesis on M-planets, and the excellent commentary on it by John Raven (2007).

May all good things come your way, and may your youth forever prevail.

With warmest wishes of health and happiness,

Chris

Montreal

October 24th, 2007”

Manfredo Seufferheld, Govindjee’s last postdoc associate (1998–2001), wrote on November 22, 2007, the Thanksgiving Day:

“What can I say about Govindjee that already has not been said? I had the privilege to be his last post doc, which is a big honor but at the same time a big responsibility. For me, the most striking characteristic of Govindjee is his love for people and for the subject he studies: Photosynthesis. Love is patient and Govindjee’s patience was an important factor in my success in his lab. I had done my PhD in ‘Stress Physiology’ and ‘Photosynthesis’ was a new challenge for me. Govindjee always had time to discuss a particular paper or a concept that was hard to chew. I still remember how much enthusiasm, dedication and especially patience he devoted to me. I treasure all the diagrams, figures and notes that he wrote in my lab book, which are a testimony of his love for what he always did, science, and thus, he had real disciples.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in Urbana was to observe the class he taught. When I entered the class, an introductory undergraduate course in plant biology, I could not believe my eyes; there were about 300 students trying to get a seat with the associated “entropy”! When the class started, I was amazed by how he taught with passion, creativity, simplicity and his endless patience. He climbed stairs, threw tennis balls as flying “electrons”, took pictures, walked up and down the amphitheater, and used great visual aids…. all to be sure that every one got “the important message”. Only the greatest teachers are able to make such a profound impact on students as he did. I will add: only the greatest teachers are able to simplify a very complex and difficult subject matter in a way that everyone feels that it is “as easy as eating a pie”. Love is kind, and Govindjee’s kindness is the virtue that evaporated any concerns I may have had in working with him, and allowed me to feel connected with him. Love is not arrogant or rude.

No matter what the situation or the person with whom he interacted, Govindjee’s humility stood out as reflection of his great wisdom and humanity. Yes, love and his passion for truth is what made Govindjee the great scientist and person that he is. Thank you very much Govindjee for being such a great mentor and for all the great things you are doing for science and its promotion.”

Appendices

Appendix I: Doctoral Theses under the Guidance of Govindjee

1960s

Cederstrand, Carl Nelson (1965) Spectrophotometric and spectrofluorometric characterization of the two pigment systems of photosynthesis, 107 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (jointly under Eugene Rabinowitch)

Papageorgiou, George (1968) Fluorescence induction in Chlorella prenoidosa and Anacystis nidulans and its relation to photophosphorylation, 140 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Munday, John Clingman, Jr. (1968) The fluorescence transient of Chlorella pyrenoidosa, 168 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Cho, Frederick Yi-Tung (1969) Low temperature spectroscopy of algae, 136 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

1970s

Mar, Ted (1971) Primary photoprocesses in the photosynthesis of algae, 199 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Bakri (Bazzaz) Maarib Darwish Lufti (1972) A photosynthetic study of olive necrotic 8147 mutant and normal maize (Zea mays L.), 132 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Bedell, Glenn Wesley II (1972) Photophosphorylation in algae, 106 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Mohanty, Prasanna Kumar (1972) Regulation of chlorophyll fluorescence during photosynthesis: A study of the factors affecting changes in yield and emission of chlorophyll fluorescence in intact algal cells and isolated chloroplasts, 433 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Stemler, Alan James (1974) The bicarbonate ion and photosynthetic oxygen evolution, 87 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Zilinskas, Barbara Ann (1975) Photosystem II reactions in thylakoid membranes, 162 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Jursinic, Paul Andrew (1977) Photosystem II charge stabilization reactions in isolated chloroplasts, 200 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

VanderMeulen, David Lee (1977) Partial characterization of adenine nucleotide binding to isolated coupling factor, 153 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Wydrzynski, Thomas John (1977) The role of manganese in photosynthetic oxygen evolution, 208 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Wong, Daniel (1979) Regulation of electronic excitation energy distribution in the primary photoprocess of photosynthesis in thylakoids, 225 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

1980s

Khanna, Rita (1980) Role of bicarbonate and of manganese in Photosystem II reactions of photosynthesis, 180 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Blubaugh, Danny J. (1987) The mechanism of bicarbonate activation of plastoquinone reduction in Photosystem II of photosynthesis, 226 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Coleman, William Joseph (1987) The mechanism of chloride activation of oxygen evolution in spinach Photosystem II, 209 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Eaton-Rye, Julian John (1987) Bicarbonate-reversible anionic inhibition of the quinone reductase in Photosystem II, 174 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

1990s

Cao, Jiancheng (1992) Effects of amino acid residue substitutions of bicarbonate function in the plastoquinone reductase in cyanobacteria, 244 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Shim, Hyunsuk (1992) Investigations of the water oxidation complex in PS II, 156 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (With Peter G. Debrunner)

Xu, Chunhe (1992) Differential inhibition of the plastoquinone reductase activity by weak organic acids and its relationship to the bicarbonate effect in spinach thylakoids, 182 pages, Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Xiong, Jin (1996) Experimental and theoretical studies of the Photosystem II reaction center: Implications for bicarbonate binding and function, 268 pages, Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Appendix II: Co-authors and coeditors of Govindjee

[What follows is an almost complete alphabetical list of co-authors and co-editors of papers, reviews and general announcements of Govindjee. The names of Govindjee’s Professors are in uppercase, graduate students, postdocs and visiting scientists, who worked with him in his Lab, are in italics, and those who are deceased are in bold.]

   
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Eaton-Rye, J.J. Snapshots of the Govindjee lab from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, and beyond…. Photosynth Res 94, 153–178 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-007-9275-9

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