York Lecturer Series

Dr. William H. Patrick, Jr. is internationally acclaimed for innovative and pioneering contributions to the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, heavy metals, and pesticides in wetland soils. His pioneering work in biogeochemical processing and cycling in wetland soils developed the foundation upon which much of our understanding of wetland soil and nutrient dynamics is based.

His research program has maintained its position at the cutting edge in several areas for three decades, including work on nitrogen transformations in soils, marshes, and wetlands; inorganic chemical reactions in submerged and/or reduced soils; cycling of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems; and the reactions of various toxins, especially heavy and pesticides, in wet or submerged soils, all areas of critical concern to Florida.

His main research interest is the interface between science and environmental issues and in providing a scientific basis for making intelligent regulatory decisions, as well as providing guidance to both state and federal agencies.

Born in Johns, Mississippi on November 9, 1925, Patrick attended school in Louisiana and Mississippi, graduating from Lake Providence, Louisiana High School in 1944. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1944 to 1946 in the South Pacific Area and entered Northeast Junior College in Monroe, Louisiana in 1946. Patrick transferred to Louisiana State in 1948 and obtained a B.S. degree in soils and a Ph.D. degree in soils with a minor in inorganic chemistry. He has since received the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Ghent, Belgium, bestowed in 1979. He served as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, and Boyd Professor at LSU, beginning his illustrious career there in 1953. He has carried out research sabbaticals in England, Belgium and Denmark.

Author of some 200 technical papers, Dr. Patrick has supervised the research of dozens of graduate students, post-doctoral associates, visiting scientists, and research scientists. He has presented invited papers at universities and research centers throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia. Dr. Patrick has also served as advisor and consultant to a number of government agencies and corporations.

He established the Laboratory for Wetland Soils and Sediments at the LSU Center for Wetland Resources in 1976, to study various environmental and regulatory aspects of coastal and interior wetlands. Dr. Patrick also serves as Justice Department consultant and witness and is well known for his intermediate positions between extreme factions when serving as advisor on controversial issues.

One of Dr. Patrick's major interests outside his university and government activities has been the development of a World Hunger Scholarship Program to support Ph.D. students from developing countries in some field of food science or human nutrition. The program, largely supported by contributions from Methodist Churches, was conceived and organized by Dr. Patrick provide a mechanism to help people help themselves. The program supports 10 Ph.D. students and plans to increase in scope.

-Biography Developed from Materials Originally Compiled in 1989