Introduction of Bruce M. Christensen, Recipient of the 2011 Clark P. Read Mentor Award

Like many others who have ventured into south-central Wisconsin to learn about tropical insects and parasites, an unlikely place for such a thing if you ask me, I am an extremely fortunate individual. ‘‘Why,’’ you ask? The answer is that the University of Wisconsin–Madison houses a dedicated professor who has a knack for educating graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of parasitology and entomology, while conducting cutting-edge research in topics of scientific, social, and medical importance. This professor is Dr. Bruce M. Christensen, and it is my honor to introduce him as the recipient of the 2011 American Society of Parasitologists Clark P. Read Mentor Award. The Clark P. Read Mentor award is given to an individual who, during his or her career, has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the training of young scientists who have successfully pursued the independent study of parasites or aspects of the host-parasite relationship. Further, the individual shall have influenced the research and/or graduate education of a department, college, or institution to significantly increase the number of students completing graduate-level training in the various disciplines of parasitology. Bruce Christensen has done all this, and more. Dr. Christensen’s initial foray into the field of parasitology dates back to his days as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, where he studied cestode biology under the guidance of Dr. Robert Calentine. After graduating from U.W.–River Falls, Bruce spent 3 years as a biological scientist at the Fitzsimmon’s United States Army Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. Then, he trekked to Ames, Iowa, where in 1977 he completed his Ph.D. at Iowa State University under the guidance of Dr. Wayne Rowley and Dr. Martin Ulmer, where he concentrated on the interaction between filarial nematodes and their mosquito vectors. In 1978 Bruce accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences of Murray State University, and after 4 years there he moved his lab to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he currently holds the H. Edwin Young Professorship in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences. His scholarly record is truly impressive. He is the author of over 170 research articles, and his work has been cited more than 3,000 times. Bruce has been continuously funded by the NIH for over 30 years, and from 1990–2000 he held a prestigious MERIT award by this same funding agency. He is also a past president and past council member of our society, a former member of the editorial board of The Journal of Parasitology, and a recipient of the H.W. Ward Medal (Christensen, 1988, 2004). Throughout a career that spans over 3 decades, Bruce has consistently placed great emphasis on student mentoring. Through his hard work, and the hard work of his students, 17 students have received an M.S. in his lab, 12 received a Ph.D., and 16 completed post-docs. These students have carried out cuttingedge research that, through the years, has shifted from ecology to organismal biology to molecular biology to genomics, and now is starting to shift back to ecology. With this plasticity, his laboratory has remained at the forefront of research innovation and has greatly increased our knowledge of mosquito immunology and the interaction between parasites and their mosquito vectors. This has been accomplished through the synergistic interaction between Bruce and his students, and his requirement that they engage in a collegial, but competitive, environment has resulted in their development into independent scientists capable of adapting novel technologies to produce new knowledge. This preparation has vaulted his students into prestigious positions at research universities, biotech industries, and government organizations. The publication record of his students is outstanding, with his Ph.D. students averaging 4.5 first-author publications and numerous other co-authorships during their tenure in the Christensen lab. When a while back I asked Bruce what the key to successful mentoring was, he said he was not sure. But from my observations, taken both as a student and as a colleague, I gather that there are 6 key elements to his mentoring style. First, he commits to his students and demands a similar level of commitment in return. Second, within the funding framework of the laboratory, he gives students the creative freedom to craft and steer their projects. In doing so, he demands focus without micromanaging, giving plenty of leeway to explore questions that are of interest to the student even if they run tangentially to the mission of the lab. Third, he provides the student with the resources needed to succeed. These include easy access to the mentor, enabled communication with members of the scientific community as well as other members of the lab, and the accessibility of more than adequate funding for the project. Fourth, he carefully monitors progress to make sure that the correct questions are being asked and that the correct approaches are being taken. Fifth, he continuously challenges his students to think of the global question rather than just the specifics of their project. Finally, he demands that findings originating in the lab be shared with the scientific community in the form of presentations at national/ international meetings and peer-reviewed publications. All in all, Bruce places his students in an ideal position to succeed, but success itself is not gifted, it must be earned. While the training environment is exemplary, the outcomes are even more impressive. His direct mentorship has fostered the careers of 11 students who have attained faculty positions at academic institutions, most at Research I universities (Table I). Moreover, what I believe is one of Dr. Christensen’s best attributes as a mentor is his commitment to building lasting relationships with his students. At a point when they have left his lab, a time when continued mentorship does not result in personal gain, Bruce actively stays in contact with his former students and DOI: 10.1645/GE-2885.1 J. Parasitol., 97(6), 2011, pp. 974–975 F American Society of Parasitologists 2011