Mortimer Paul Starr

Mortimer Paul Starr (April 13, 1917–April 29, 1989) was an American microbiologist. After graduating with a PhD at Cornell, he briefly taught at Brooklyn College before accepting a position at University of California, Davis, where he stayed for thirty-seven years. He was considered an expert on plant pathology, particularly in plant diseases caused by bacteria.

Early life and education Mortimer Paul Starr was born in New York City on April 13, 1917, to parents Fannie and Morris Starr. under Walter H. Burkholder. He took a two-year leave of absence from Brooklyn College to conduct research at Hopkins Marine Station as a National Research Fellow. In 1949, he spent three months in Colombia to help identify a plant pathogen that was killing pasture crops used by dairy farmers. While there, he was also a professor at the National University of Colombia in Medellín. His research in Colombia was supported by the United States Department of State and the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. In 1953, Starr was awarded a research fellowship to spend six months at Cambridge University, followed by time at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. In 1973, he succeeded Charles E. Clifton as the editor of the academic journal the Annual Review of Microbiology. He remained the editor of the journal until 1982, at which time he was succeeded by L. Nicholas Ornston.

Starr was the editor of several books, including The Prokaryotes: a handbook on habitats, isolation, and identification of bacteria (1981). He was a member of several scientific organizations including Sigma Xi, the Society of American Bacteriologists, the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Phytopathological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Society for General Microbiology.

Awards and honors In 1947, Mortimer Starr received an Honors Day Award from Brooklyn College.

Personal life Starr married Phoebe in 1944; together, they had three children. at the age of 72.