Congratulations to Rae Page for receiving the 2022 Louise T. Dosdall Fellowship, a highly competitive university-wide award! This prestigious fellowship takes its name and endowment from UMN Plant Pathology alumna Louise Dosdall and rewards a female-identifying graduate student in the natural or physical sciences and engineering with financial support, tuition, and subsidized health insurance. Page is a Ph.D. candidate in Plant Pathology studying the genetics of disease resistance in wheat, barley and their wild progenitors. She is advised by Brian Steffenson, who nominated her for the fellowship.
Rae Page: An Exceptional Researcher and Student
Beyond her outstanding grades and excellent publication record—co-author on four refereed journal publications and four published proceedings/abstracts, to be exact—Steffenson cites Page’s research prowess as a key part of what makes her an exceptional student. Steffenson assigned Page with several challenging and high-risk projects and watched her flourish in all of them. “She is a mature and accomplished researcher with a strong will to succeed. Her research has greatly advanced our knowledge regarding the genetics of resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) in barley.” A second part of Page’s dissertation research focuses on mapping genes for rust resistance in the wild wheat relative of Aegilops longissima, which is native to the Levant. The genes identified in this species may one day be useful in wheat breeding efforts.
Brett Arenz calls Page “a special student to have in class, she sets such a high bar for herself and is so focused.” Page is a well-rounded student who plays a vital role in the larger Plant Pathology department. Beyond being a quality teaching assistant and engaging speaker in outreach activities, she chairs the Plant Pathology Student Organization and ensures fun, enriching group experiences are available to all M.S. and Ph.D. students. Steffenson calls Page a “modest, engaging, and amiable person who gets along well with people of all backgrounds.”
The Dosdall Legacy
Like Page today, Louise Dosdall played numerous roles in the Department of Plant Pathology. In 1922, Dosdall was one of the first two women to obtain a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota, alongside Margaret Newton. Upon her graduation, Dosdall became the department’s mycologist, and beyond being a scientist and instructor, she managed the Plant Pathology library, was on many graduate student exam committees, and initiated and maintained the Plant Pathology herbarium. Dosdall was also a gifted speaker of the German language and a valued mentor to mycologists in the department.
Despite her mycology expertise and the invaluable services that Dosdall provided the department, her male colleagues in positions of departmental leadership actively prevented her from being promoted above instructor, contrary to the urging by University leadership. Decades after the fact, a long-retired faculty colleague of Dosdall informed a present-day female faculty member that he, while serving as acting department head, was approached by the Dean and encouraged to promote Dosdall. However, he chose not to do so because of his fear of disapproval by a long-time departmental leader; he reported this as his biggest career regret.
Despite adversity, Dosdall actively found opportunities to champion women in scientific careers. Dosdall served as a charter member of Minnesota’s Xi chapter of Sigma Delta Epsilon, the organization of graduate women in science. Later, her estate was used to create the prestigious Louise Dosdall Fellowship for Women in Science, which continues to provide valuable funding to woman-identifying University of Minnesota students with promise in scientific careers.
A Throughline to the Future
With Rae Page taking home the 2022 Louise T. Dosdall Fellowship, this University-wide fund returns to the women of the department where its founder studied and worked.
“Rae is an exceptionally gifted scientist with a broad range of research experiences and accomplishments,” Steffenson writes. “I am certain she will become one of our discipline’s outstanding future leaders and researchers.” Arenz adds, “I have no doubt that she will achieve great things in her career as a plant pathologist (no pressure, Rae!).”
Congratulations, Rae Page — we are so fortunate to call you our colleague!