NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Few people outside of the world of professional pest control would recognize the name of Dr. Austin Frishman, but he is not just widely known, but lauded by the industry. On Thursday, Aug. 21, the New Jersey Pest Management Association will honor him as a “mentor and friend” who has provided training and education “to our industry for over 40 years.”
The event will occur during the 61st annual NJPMA Clinic, tradeshow and clambake to be held on the Cook College Campus of Rutgers in New Brunswick. Frishman will conduct a seminar on bed bugs in a 10:15 a.m. session and, later in the day at 3:45 p.m., will discuss the “greening” of the way pest control is undertaken these days.
“As with any industry, there are always a few men who truly stand out,” said Leonard Douglen, NJPMA Executive Director. “Dr. Frishman’s contributions are the stuff of legend, but as an individual, he has always remained approachable and enthusiastic about the many advances that have been made in the ancient battle against insect pests. We are especially pleased that our annual clinic was the first such event he attended back in 1960, inspiring an academic career as an entomologist and professor of structural pest control.
Frishman’s passion for insects began very early. He recalls being fascinated with them at the age of three. Born in 1940, he was the sole child of two Polish immigrants. A classic American success story, Frishman would eventually earn a bachelor’s and a masters degree from Cornell University in the early 1960s and, in 1968, a Ph.D. from Purdue University.
In 2002, he was named to the Pest Control Hall of Fame in recognition of an extraordinary career that included teaching for 12 years at Farmingdale, the State University of New York. Earlier he was honored as a member for life of Pi Chi Omega, a national fraternity for pest management professionals. In 1993, he received Pest Control Technology’s Professional of the Year Award.
Over the years, as the result of being a popular lecturer, Frishman is estimated to have traveled more than 3 million miles to speak at industry meetings and events worldwide. He is said to know an estimated 3,000 people on a first-name basis. Many more have read his articles in Pest Management Professional. He is not entirely unknown to the general public because he has been on television often discussing many insect related issues. The media dubbed him “Dr. Cockroach” for his research regarding this ubiquitous pest.
Though the general public is unaware of it, it was Frishman’s research that led to the development of a breakthrough cockroach bait in the 1960s. He is credited with helping American Cyanimid develop the first solid bait for German cockroaches and, later, the first liquid bait that is marketed these days as MaxForce by Bayer Environmental Science.
Always on the cutting edge of new, improved technologies, Frishman promoted the use of sticky traps as a way of monitoring the movement and traffic of cockroaches and other insects throughout a structure. This is now a standard technique among pest management professionals.
The annual Clinic will feature some of the nation’s leading authorities on insect and rodent pest problems. More than 600 members of the industry are expected to attend. They will hear lectures on bed bugs, termites, rice and rats.
Marcedius T. Jameson, an administrator with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, will provide an update on the issues the NJDEP is addressing these days. A schedule of events is available at www.cpe.rutgers.edu/brochures/pdfs/clambakeagenda.pdf