Dr. G. Michael Chippendale, professor emeritus of the University of Missouri (MU), was elected as Fellow in 1994. He is recognized internationally for his research in insect physiology, focusing on the nutrition, endocrinology, diapause, growth and development of plant-feeding insects.
Chippendale was born in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, England. He attended Manchester University, receiving his B.S. degree in 1961. He received his M.S. degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 1963, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. He held postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Wisconsin and Leeds, England, before joining MU in 1968. He was promoted to professor in 1976.
Significant advances from Chippendale’s laboratory include increasing understanding about the nutritional requirements of plant-feeding insects and demonstrating that juvenile hormone regulates the larval diapause of the southwestern corn borer. Findings included showing: that photoperiod and thermoperiod interact to induce the larval diapause of this corn borer; that a specific protein accumulates in its fat body at the onset of its diapause, thereby providing a new biochemical tool to study the regulation of diapause; and that a high‑density lipophorin, synthesized and released by the fat body into hemolymph is essential for lipid transport and survival during its diapause.
From 1964 to 2002, Chippendale authored or co-authored 117 journal articles, including three in Nature. He contributed a chapter on larval diapause to the 1976 Annual Review of Entomology. In 1979, John J. Brown and Chippendale received the Insect Biochemistry Prize from the Journal of Insect Biochemistry for their article on the diapause protein of the southwestern corn borer. In the 1980s, Chippendale gave invited research presentations in Wageningen (Netherlands), London (England), Nairobi (Kenya), and Szklaska (Poland).
During the period 1984 to 1995, Chippendale contributed to ESA leadership as Representative of Section B to the Governing Board, as a member of the Governing Board’s Publications Council and Committee on Human Diversity, and as Chair of the Special Committee on Electronic Publications.
At MU, Chippendale taught Insect Physiology and Morphology. In 1984, he received an Award of Merit from students of MU’s C.V. Riley Entomological Society for his teaching and mentoring. Beginning in 1988, he held administrative positions, including chair of the Department of Entomology, unit leader of Plant Sciences, interim associate director of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, and senior associate dean, College Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. In 2006, he served as interim director of MU’s newly opened Bond Life Sciences Center, an interdisciplinary facility to foster collaborative research and education on campus. In 2007, he established Chippendale Consulting, LLC to provide a vehicle to highlight urgent needs related food, human nutrition, and the environment (www.chippendaleconsulting.com).
He is married to Ene-Kaja (Härm) Chippendale. They have a son, Steve, a daughter, Kate, and three grandchildren. His hobbies include gardening with native plants, beekeeping, and walking in natural areas.
(updated February 2021)