The seed of knowledge grows

AFTER getting a bachelor’s degree from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, I left for further education to the US. During my doctoral studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia, I came across many legendary teachers and was taught by them. They were not only memorable and motivating because of their superb teaching, but also because of their humour in and outside of the classroom.

Gary F Krause was a brilliant statistician with a marvellous sense of humour. While explaining complex statistical formulas, he would say, ‘Now, here comes the “Indian trick”.’ He would then point out to the class the work of a famous statistician, CR Rao. A wall hanging in his office read, ‘Today is the first day of the rest of your troubles.’

William Q Loegering, a geneticist, taught us ‘Genetics of plant disease’. He had an unwavering, positive self-concept. In his office was a plaque with the inscription, ‘Once I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.’ Indeed, he was never wrong.

Another teacher, who motivated his students to think, was C Jerry Nelson. He taught us an advanced course in crop physiology. His pet phrase in the classroom was, ‘Think and let your imagination go wild.’

My PhD adviser, Marcus S Zuber, had a unique style of guiding his students. He would give us the latest research publication to read. After we had casually read it, he would come back and say, ‘There are some interesting ideas in this paper for a couple of novel research projects.’

Zuber was a research leader (a renowned maize geneticist/breeder) with the US Department of Agriculture and never spent time on teaching during the day. He would teach us informally on Saturdays.

George P Redei taught us ‘History of genetics’. He had fled Hungary after the communists took over the country. He was known among his colleagues as an encyclopaedia of genetics, even before he had published a book titled Genetics Manual: Current Theory, Concepts, Terms.

In 1986, I joined the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, as a professor of quantitative genetics. My next-door neighbour was a veteran professor, Joseph E Sedberry. Whenever a student brought to him a thesis to read at a short notice, his response always was, ‘Poor planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part.’ This philosophy of his was known to all students.

Abdul Kalam, too, can be added to the list as he was a motivating teacher. We should salute all teachers and remember that ‘teachers plant seeds of knowledge that grow forever.’