Dr. Kenneth Linthicum is Director of the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE). The Center, located in Gainesville, Fla., is the first national center for insect research and the largest entomology laboratory in the world that conducts real-world, problemsolving research and technology transfer aimed at reducing or eliminating the harm caused by insects to crops, stored products, livestock, and humans.

Since becoming Director in 2004, Dr. Linthicum renewed and reestablished the longtime historical technology transfer connection between CMAVE and the Department of Defense, a connection that dated back to World War II. Dr. Linthicum’s leadership and vision enabled the Center to recruit the best scientists, technicians and support staff, and to instill in them the drive to conduct operational research that solves the entomological problems of stakeholders in American and international agriculture, industry, and government.

The Center consists of four research units employing almost 200 staff with 100 advanced degrees, including 60 Ph.D. scientists and more than 140 highly skilled biological technician, maintenance, administrative, safety, and environmental staff. Dr. Linthicum’s superb leadership of CMAVE’s technology transfer mission since 2004 is exemplified by more than 2,100 publications and 40 patent applications. In addition, CMAVE scientists have participated in over 60 Cooperative Research and Development Agreements and specific cooperative agreements, resulting in a 75-percent increase in revenue.

Dr. Linthicum is recognized as a leader and authority in the field of medical entomology, as well as arthropod-borne viruses, malaria, and scrub Typhus. He is a pioneer in using remotely sensed data, geographic information systems, and global climate to forecast environmental conditions that lead to animal and human disease outbreaks, thus allowing early disease mitigation studies. Dr. Linthicum is extensively involved in research programs throughout the U.S., and has served as a consultant for the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Organization of African Unity, among others.