Tong-Xian Liu, ESA Fellow (2014)

[img_assist|nid=20015|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=150|height=200]Dr. Tong-Xian Liu, a national distinguished professor of entomology at Northwest A&F University (Yangling, Shaanxi, China), was elected as Fellow in 2014. He is internationally recognized for his research in biological control and tritrophic interactions of host plants, whiteflies, and aphids, and their natural enemies in vegetables and field crops.

Liu, known as “T.-X.,” was born in Qingdao, Shandong, China in October 1955. He obtained his B.S. degree in plant protection from Shandong Agricultural University (Tai’an, Shandong, China). He enrolled in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech University as a graduate student in 1986 and obtained his M.S. degree in 1987. He then enrolled in the Department of Entomology at the University of Georgia and received his Ph.D. degree in 1992. He spent four years as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Florida. He joined Texas AgriLife Research in 1997 as an assistant professor of entomology, working on vegetable IPM. He was promoted to associate professor in 2001 and full professor in 2005. In 2009, the Chinese government recruited and appointed him as National Distinguished Professor of Entomology, the most prestigious faculty position in China. Additionally, he was appointed as special adviser to China's president and director of the Key Laboratory of Applied Entomology in 2009, dean of the College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University in 2010, and director of the Key Laboratory of Crop Pest Management in the Northwest Loess Areas of the Ministry of Agriculture of China in 2012.

Liu’s research focuses on the biological control of pest insects in vegetables and field crops, insect behavior, host plant-herbivore-natural enemy tritrophic interactions, and chemical ecology. A prolific author, he has published 220 refereed journal articles in various journals, including the Annual Review of Entomology, BioControl, Biological Control and various ESA journals. He has edited four books and 18 book chapters, as well as published more than 220 educational, popular, and extension articles. He has been an invited speaker by many national and international institutions and at numerous professional conferences around the world. In his more than 30-year career at three universities, he has been very active in teaching and student training. He taught general entomology, horticultural entomology, biological control, and IPM. Currently, he teaches an introductory entomology class in China. He has supervised 85 graduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and visiting scientists.

Dr. Liu has received numerous awards from various institutions and societies. He has been an ESA member since late the 1990s, and served in several capacities, including President of the International Branch in 2013. He has co-organized more than 20 symposia worldwide and assumed approximately 20 roles in various international scientific societies. He has served as editor, associate editor, and editorial board member of more than ten journals, including Biological Control, Journal of Insect Science, and Insect Science.

T.-X. is married to Yong-Mei Zhang and has a son, Mike. His hobbies include Chinese calligraphy, wine, food, and travel.

(updated March, 2015)