Judith K. Brown was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and moved at a young age to Scottsdale, Arizona, where she was raised as a “desert girl.” She received her BS from Texas A&M University, her MS from Washington State University, and her PhD from University of Arizona (1984). She was post-doctoral associate and research professor at the University of Arizona until 1999, when she joined the Plant Sciences faculty; she advanced to full professor in 2004. Brown is a world authority on whitefly-transmitted viruses and vector biotypes. She has visited, lectured, and studied emerging diseases in 63 countries and continues to carry out collaborative research in Asia, Africa, and the tropical Americas. She recognized early on that DNA-based methods would transform differentiation of vector haplotypes and viral population studies and applied them concomitantly to explore whitefly and begomovirus diversification globally, developing extensive molecular databases that are still used worldwide. Since 1990, Brown has delivered 50 invited international and 83 national/in-state presentations. She is a prolific author, writing more than 111 journal articles, 11 book chapters, 8 reviews, 20 proceedings, 38 disease reports, and over 250 abstracts, and she has received numerous rewards. Her laboratory has hosted more than 50 visiting scholars and graduate students from 14 countries. Brown is an active APS member, having served as Caribbean Division councilor (2001–2006), member and chair (2005) of the Virology Committee, member of the Emerging Pathogens and Diseases Committee (2004–present), member of the Office of International Programs (1996–1999; 2009–present), and chair of the Pathogen-Vector Interactions Committee. Brown has also been an associate editor of
Phytopathology (2000–2003) and of
Plant Disease (2007–2009) and a senior editor of APS PRESS.
