GrainGenes

IN DEDICATION TO

Dr. Bent Skovmand

Director, Nordic Gene Bank, Sweden

Bent (left) with a symbol of the new Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV), which based on the experiences of the safety deposit since 1984, is being constructed now. The SGSV will be ready to receive seeds from all of the world in February 2008, making it the safety deposit of seeds for the world.

Director Dr. Bent Skovmand passed away peacefully during the night between Monday and Tuesday, 5 February, 2007, after a short period of illness. A few glimpses of characteristic situations from Bent's rich life are provided by Ebbe Schiøler, consultant, formerly with Danida, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and originally were published in the Danish daily Politiken. Dr. Schiøler worked with Bent for a number of years in the capacity as administrator of funds to international research at Danida (the Danish 'USAID'), including his time at the Nordic Gene Bank. His relationship with Bent went back to long before his years at the Gene Bank. Bent was a highly respected and well-liked person internationally. His great engagement in his work within plant genetic resources and his participation in many aspects of Nordic and international work. With his great scientific knowledge and unique personality, he especially has left his mark in the scientific world within his two favorite areas, wheat breeding and plant genetic resources. Bent is a person who will be remembered for who he was and what he stood for.

He took good care of plants.

Bending down in the middle of an experimental wheat plot at the international research center CIMMYT in Mexico. The plant breeder is absorbed in a conversation with a younger colleague on the robustness of a new line against drought and disease. How would it cope with growing conditions in the developing world, the center of his attention for such a long part of his working life.

Listening constructively in the middle of a staff group meeting in Alnarp, Sweden, during discussions and decision making on how to organize an expedition to collect grasses in the last few corners of Nordic wilderness to make sure that no material from our vital heritage of wild plants disappears in the continued development of our societies and while climate changes in our part of the world, as well.

With a modest smile and immense happiness, surrounded by his Danish-Mexican family, which has no fear of using genuine, honest, and direct words while celebrating the silver wedding of Eugenia and Bent. Young and old declare the family's love for them both in a manner that is somewhat strong, especially for guests from other parts of the world used to putting up a shield of modesty in personal relations.

Here you have the wide span governing Bent's life. The professional person with his strong commitment to big and central scientific issues; the empathic and rewarding colleague and boss; and the man with the energy and warmth for friends and c for him, the heart of the matter c a close and warm family life.

He gave a lot, and he received a lot in return. Traveling from Denmark to U.S. on an exchange program, he spent some hard years financing his undergraduate studies in Minnesota on income from whatever job he could come across. But hard working, he advanced in biology and specialized in plant diseases, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1976. Throughout his university years, jobs became more sophisticated, and his last years were financed through a Rockefeller scholarship.

Inside the mine (left) not far from Longyer-Byen, Bent is about to place some seeds to be stored in the safety deposit store of the Nordic Gene Bank. This safety deposit has been running since 1984, and the temperature never exceeds ­4°C. The seeds can, therefore, be kept in permafrost and in excellent condition for many, many years.

His first assignment was as a plant breeder at CIMMYT in Mexico working on the then novel triticale cereal. He became head of the program but later specialized in wheat and was in charge of the breeding program for wheat in Turkey, a UNDP project. Back at CIMMYT, he became head of wheat breeding and the gigantic gene bank with its housands of accessions. In this capacity, he developed into a leading figure fostering expansive international cooperation in wheat breeding.

For him it was a logical next step c and a great dream of his c to continue his work with plant genes in a Nordic context, closer to Denmark and to give his family a closer relationship with this part of the world. When the opportunity arose in 2003, he was more than happy to grasp it. For the last four years of his working life, he was the director of the Nordic Gene Bank, situated in the southern part of Sweden, for agricultural and horticultural plants and, more importantly for him and his staff, their wild relatives. Close to his heart were endeavors to secure the international dimension of the Gene Bank's work; development work for Southern Africa, the Baltic countries, and central Asia. He took a genuine pride in each step forward, most recently leading a very exciting effort to secure Nordic aromatic and herbal plants, collected by the Gene Bank in their natural habitat and at old and nearly forgotten spots in the cultural landscape in far away villages.

He was repaid handsomely for his high professional standard by the international scientific community. For a number of years, prestigious awards in the U.S. for his publications; a long list of honors from his alma mater the University of Minnesota; and the most recent award this year, membership in the most impressive scientific academies and a number of medals. In 2005, he received the international Crop Science Award. That same year, the Agricultural University of Copenhagen, Denmark, awarded him an honorary post as professor. This recognition was, for him, a moment of joy, to be recognized, although in some sense 'a foreigner', by peers back in Denmark. You will come across few people who enjoyed his Danish Knighthood more than Bent. He was knighted by the queen in 2003 and this, for him, was a wonderful signal that his work had been noted although his career was abroad.

But, again, his innermost and greatest happiness and pride were centered around his family; towards his older daughters from an earlier marriage and towards the two now nearly adult children from his long marriage c and very strong partnership c with Eugenia.

It was heart breaking to follow how Bent was worn-out during the last few months of his disease. But it was so good to see that his Nordic colleagues, his warm family, and many international friends stood by and supported him in each their way. Bent will stay with us for long, professionally c and as a very special personality.

The Skovmand family has established the 'Bent Skovmand Fellowship' for support of a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.