Jan E Leach

Jan Elnor Leach (born 1953) is an American plant pathologist. She is known for her research of the molecular biology of plant pathogens, particularly those affecting rice plants. She was the co-editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology from 2015-2022 and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Early life and education Jan Elnor Leach was born in in Lincoln, Nebraska to parents Jessamine and Lewis Leach. After attending Dordt University, a small college in Iowa, for two years, she transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, graduating in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in microbiology. She stayed at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for her master's in microbiology, graduating in 1977. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison for her PhD in plant pathology, graduating in 1981. She was the president of the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions from 1999 to 2001.

In 2019, she won the Agropolis Fondation Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food in the "Distinguished Scientist" category.

In 2021, she was elected member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences.

Personal life She is married to Ned Tisserat, also a plant pathologist.