Dr. Marc Alan Cohn, Emeritus Professor in the Plant Pathology and Crop Science Department at Louisiana State University, passed away on 19 June 2021 from complications associated with pancreatic cancer. Marc ‘retired’ from his position at LSU in 2017 but remained active as an Emeritus/Adjunct Professor. He continued to teach his favourite class, Professional Development, worked on scientific publications and mentored students. He was active in many scientific societies, especially the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Biologists where Marc continued to oversee SSASPB finances. Marc (aka Dr. Jazz) developed and presented his jazz radio podcast ‘Gifts and Messages’ on WHYR in Baton Rouge until 10 October 2020, when the final podcast ‘Last Dance’ aired.
Marc became involved in plant sciences as an undergraduate at Northeastern University. Marc, ‘the man with 1000 questions’ (we might also add, millions of words), had been asking Dr. Khudairi lots of questions in class. Dr. Khudairi turned the tables on Marc, called him in to his office and asked Marc why a tomato turns red when ripe. That interchange led to Marc working with Dr. Khudairi on fruit ripening. Their subsequent conversations about career goals led Marc to graduate school at Cornell, as opposed to his initial plan of becoming a surgeon. Medicine's loss was seed biology's gain.
Marc will be sorely missed in the tight knit seed biology community. His contributions to our understanding of seed dormancy are many and all stemmed from his enthusiasm and passion for the topic. He always had something new and exciting to report which drew his colleagues and those of us on the periphery of the field to his talks. His insights, often delivered with wit and piercing honesty, fuelled the research of many and his scientific integrity created a solid foundation for all. His philosophy of careful, high-quality studies, unbiased data analysis coupled with his impeccable integrity was clearly evident during his long tenure as an Associate Editor of Seed Science Research with the then Editor-in-Chief Michael Black after which he took over as the Editor-in-Chief from 1999 to 2009. Manuscripts had to pass Marc's keen eye (and sometimes brutally honest critique) and exacting editing. Marc was devoted to his editorial duties, so much so that he took a break from his other ‘gig’ as a jazz DJ to have enough time to edit the journal to his thorough standards. In recognition of Marc's contributions to Seed Science Research, he was awarded the prestigious CSSA Seed Science Award in 2007.
Marc enthusiastically embraced teaching, mentoring and outreach. Marc was fiercely committed to training students to be professional, critical thinkers and provided them with the tools to be successful researchers. As a mentor of students and fellow scientists, Marc emphasized ethics, his philosophy of science and rules for appropriate conduct. His encyclopaedic knowledge of, and passion for, seed biology was infectious. He believed that ‘there are no answers, only better questions to ask’.
We will miss Marc, the man of 1000 questions. He was not only a man of the highest integrity, a wonderful colleague, mentor and passionate scientist, he was our dear friend.
