[View Point] Dr. John Osmun: A true industry icon

The term "industry icon" gets thrown around all too casually these days, but in the case of Dr. John Osmun, former head of the Department of Entomology at Purdue University, it certainly applies. Few industry professionals have had as significant and long-lasting an impact on the field of pest management as Dr. Osmun, an outspoken advocate for PCO education and enhanced industry standards. Osmun’s impressive career spans more than 60 years, serving as chief entomologist for the U.S. Army and as a research entomologist with Merck & Co., before joining the staff of Purdue University in 1948 as assistant professor of entomology, where he developed the first four-year curriculum devoted to urban and industrial entomology. In the mid-1970s, Osmun left Purdue to become the first director of EPA’s Operations Division, where he brought a much-needed industry perspective to the Agency. "I saw it as an opportunity to develop standards for applicators based on education," he says.

Osmun later rejoined Purdue University, eventually retiring as a Department of Entomology faculty member in 1987, although he remains active in university affairs to this day. Given his remarkable career, the recent announcement that Purdue University has secured the necessary funding to establish the John V. Osmun Endowed Professorship comes as welcome news (see related story on page 14). That’s because too often we honor individuals — or erect tributes to those people who have contributed the most to society — after they’re gone. Baseball legend Buck O’Neil serves as a recent example. O’Neil, a teammate of legendary ballplayers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, became the first black coach ever hired by Major League Baseball when he joined the Chicago Cubs in 1962. In his later years, O’Neil played a key role in raising the country’s awareness of the important role the Negro Leagues played in the evolution of our national pastime. In Ken Burns’ highly praised PBS documentary "Baseball," O’Neil proved to be an articulate oral historian for this important period in U.S. sports history, eventually convincing executives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame to hold a special election to enshrine deserving Negro League ballplayers into baseball’s hallowed halls. Last year, the Hall of Fame heeded O’Neil’s words and elected 17 of his peers to baseball’s national shrine, but O’Neil was not one of them, falling a single vote short. Some believe O’Neil eventually will be elected to the Hall of Fame, but unfortunately he won’t experience it first hand. That’s because Buck O’Neil died on October 7, 2006.

Fortunately, Dr. John Osmun — who at 89 may have slowed a step or two, but remains as passionate about the industry as he was in his 30s and 40s — will have an opportunity to experience just how much the pest management industry cares about him as a man and respects all he has accomplished as an educator when friends and colleagues gather at Purdue University later this year to celebrate the creation of the John V. Osmun Endowed Professorship. It is an event that would not have been possible if not for the generosity of so many industry donors, as well as the tireless efforts of the Purdue University Endowed Chair Committee — Judy Dold, Rose Pest Solutions (chair); Steve Yaninek, Purdue University; David Mueller, Insects Limited; John Owens, S.C. Johnson & Sons; Eric Putman, Purdue University; and Osmun’s longtime friends Dr. Austin Frishman and Norm Ehmann.

"John Osmun is a revered industry icon," says Dold. "The endowed professorship is the culmination of an effort to honor someone who has given so much to all of us."

The author is publisher of PCT magazine.