Andre Tridon Jagendorf

1926 - 2017

Jagendorf, Andre Tridon

Andre Tridon Jagendorf died at the age of 90 on March 13, 2017 at Kendal in Ithaca, New York. He was born to Sophie and Moritz Jagendorf on October 21, 1926 in Manhattan. Predeceased by his parents, his sister, Merna, and his son, Daniel, he is survived by his wife, Jean, his daughters, Suzanne and Judith, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and two nieces. Andre graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Plant Physiology in 1948, earned his PhD in Biophysics in 1951 at Yale University, followed by two years at UCLA when he was awarded a Merck Postdoctoral fellowship. Andre became an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University in 1953, an Associate Professor in 1958, and a Full Professor in 1966. He then returned in that year to Cornell University as a Professor of Plant Physiology, and became the Liberty Hyde Professor in 1981. Since 1997, Andre has been the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor Emeritus in the Department of Plant Biology, and he continued to work on a research project in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Turgeon until the very last weeks of his life. Andre is known for his groundbreaking work in the process of photosynthesis, which paved the way for a new field in science. He was also a pioneer in many aspects of chloroplast molecular biology, including the discovery of a gene for the enzyme responsible for DNA repair and recombination in chloroplasts. He became the President of the American Society of Plant Physiologists in 1967. He received the Charles F. Kettering Award of that Society in 1978. Andre was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1980. He then received the Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award of the American Society of Plant Physiologists in 1989. In 2012, he received a Life Time Achievement Award from the Rebeiz Foundation for Basic Research. The citation from that award stated that Andre proved himself as a nonconformist who broke new grounds in science using a rare combination of imagination, meticulous scrutiny of experimental results, and the ability to devise ingenious experiments that gave answers to major unsolved mechanisms in science. In addition to his serious side, Andre was famous for his jokes. He was ever ready to tell a joke-of-the-day because he liked to see people laugh. He was warmly loved, and he will be greatly missed. His final resting place will be in the Greensprings Natural Cemetery. Following his wishes, there will be no services or memorial gatherings. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The Southern Poverty Law Center (PO Box 548, Montgomery, AL 36101-0548) or to a charity of choice.