Pest Management Professional (PMP) inducted the 2024 class of its Hall of Fame at a black-tie reception Oct. 21, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Denver, Colo.
The awards ceremony was held the evening before the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) kicked off its PestWorld event, and recognized Dr. Harold Harlan, BCE; Patricia Hottel, BCE; Dr. William H. Robinson; and posthumous inductee Austin Kness.
Dr. Harold Harlan, BCE, an Army entomologist and educator whose eponymous bed bug strain has been the benchmark for specimens in research. After studying entomology at The Ohio State University, he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1967. A year later, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He learned he could become an Army Entomologist if he earned his master’s degree, so that’s what he did. After a successful 25-year active-duty Army career, he retired in 1994. He has been an active member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) for 56 years, coined the term Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE), and helped develop related requirements and procedures for the designation. In December 1996, Dr. Harlan was hired as the National Pest Management Association’s (NPMA’s) staff entomologist, a position he held until December 2005. Despite these achievements, Dr. Harlan is best known for his work with bed bugs. His fascination with Cimex lectularius took off while in the Army, where he acquired his first population that he carried with him throughout his career. This population, known as the Harlan strain, is still widely used in insecticide resistance research.
“I was surprised and humbled to be chosen for this award,” he said as he took the stage to accept his PMP Hall of Fame plaque. “My entomology career has been less focused on pest management than those of my three fellow awardees.”
After thanking PMP magazine, its staff, and those who selected him for the honor, he continued, “I want to thank Norma, my wife of 56 years and counting … for all her love and support. She has been a key part of every success I’ve had in all that time. I want to thank the NPMA, and especially their staff, for helping me learn and function in the world of pest management. Many pest management professionals and current NPMA members have befriended me and taught me a lot as well. I’m still learning from them today.
“I’ve always felt very welcome in the pest management community, more than I typically have been in certain academic situations,” he said. “Yours is the real world, and you offer practical solutions to pest problems of all sorts and to all people.”
Patricia Hottel, BCE, whose talent for industry training and mentoring has aided the careers of countless pest management professionals nationwide. She is a respected pest management trainer and leader whose career was shaped by Dr. Austin Frishman, a fellow PMP Hall of Famer (Class of 2002). Hottel’s journey in entomology began at The State University of New York at Farmingdale, where she switched from biology to entomology under Dr. Frishman’s guidance. Hottel’s career spans nearly five decades, starting at Bermuda Pest Control and later at McCloud Services. She now works for Rentokil Terminix following the acquisition of McCloud by Terminix and Terminix by Rentokil. Throughout her career, Hottel has focused on providing technical support and training for technicians. As one of the founding members of Professional Women in Pest Management (PWIPM), Hottel has been a strong advocate for women in the industry. She earned her master’s degree in instructional technology from the University of Missouri in her 50s, demonstrating her commitment to learning. She continues to build a wide network of professional relationships.
“It certainly is an honor and a privilege to receive this award tonight. But it’s not a journey that I did on my own,” she said in her acceptance speech. “Some of those individuals have been recognized already, I have a lot to be thankful for, including my family and professional assistance over the years.”
She went on to thank her husband Andy, who was unable to attend in person but was their virtually, her three sons — Ben, Juston and Robby — and two daughters-in-law who were at the ceremony. She also thanked her sister Sue, whom she called her “best friend and person who knows me the longest,” who was in the audience with husband Tom.
She also thanked several colleagues with whom she worked throughout her long career. “We all need to thank those who have been part of our lives, part of our success that means so much to us,” she said.
“Whether you’re in the field, and I love to be in the field, or in the classroom, that feeling of discovery that science brings is certainly important…. When you’re out in the field and see an insect, behaviors of insects that you haven’t seen before, solving a customer’s problem. Sharing that, more importantly, not just for your own success but with others,” she said. “That feeling of joy that you get from those like-minded people joining you in that experience of science makes me stay and do what I do today.”
Dr. William H. Robinson, whose research and presentations have enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of the pest control industry’s practices. In 1970, he joined Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where he spent three decades teaching and conducting research on structural pests. He published nearly 100 research papers and served as the director of the Urban Entomology Research Center. When he became a visiting professor at Zhejiang University in China, his work expanded globally. Dr. Robinson has written two seminal textbooks on urban entomology and developed five technician training manuals. After his academic career, he spent 20 years as technical director at B&G Equipment Co. and currently serves as technical products director for The Fountainhead Group. He also holds a patent for insect control in pallets, and is awaiting approval on a sprayer innovation.
“This industry has a very strong research base,” he said as he accepted his PMP Hall of Fame plaque. “We know what we’re doing. The problem is, I don’t know if we use that research as much as we should.”
He continued, “I’m indebted to people who took the time to explain to me. It’s been very important for me and a mission for me to take the work that my students have done … and take that to the people that use it: the service technicians.
“I’ve been very happy to train service technicians around the world…. They’re all cut from the same cloth,” he added. “I believe they strive to be professionals, and I believe they want to have a research base for what they do. I think they want to know why, and they want to know how. I respect those people; they carry this industry every day.
“I write training manuals because I want service technicians to have something to take home with them and to explain to them not just how but why you’re murdering stuff,” Dr. Robinson quipped.
Posthumously, we honor Austin “Brick” Kness, who successfully founded a multi-generational manufacturing business based simply on “building a better mouse trap.”
A pioneering figure in the pest control industry, Kness was born in 1889. In 1924, he took worked as a high school custodian in Audubon, Iowa, where he faced a persistent mouse problem at the school, Kness invented an innovative multiple-catch mousetrap using everyday items. This invention, which could capture several rodents without needing to be reset, became the prototype for the Ketch-All Multiple Catch Mousetrap, still in use today. In 1927, he founded Kness Manufacturing Co. to produce his mousetrap and other inventions. The company’s true breakthrough occurred around 1971, when federal regulations began to mandate the use of box traps in food- processing facilities. The Ketch-All trap soon became a go-to solution for the pest control industry. Kness remained a tinkerer and inventor until his death in 1974. Kness Pest Defense continues Brick Kness’ legacy, producing about 100,000 Ketch-All traps annually as a family-owned company.
PMP Publisher Marty Whitford accepted the PMP Hall of Fame plaque on behalf of Kness.
PMP acknowledges the generous support of its Hall of Fame sponsors.
Plaque Sponsor: Bug Off Pest Control Center
Cocktail Sponsor: J.T. Eaton
Gold Sponsor: Control Solutions Inc. (CSI)
Silver Sponsors: BASF, Neogen, Nisus, Pelgar USA, Rockwell Labs and The Aust Group
PMP’s Class of 2024 inductees join the ranks of 106 other pioneers and visionaries who have shaped the pest management industry. Their contributions will be immortalized on a “Wall of Fame” at Purdue University, generously sponsored by Bug Off Pest Control Center.
Visit PMP’s Hall of Fame website to learn more about past inductees, or to nominate a deserving individual who has made notable contributions to the pest management industry.
<p>The post PMP Honors Hall of Fame Class of 2024 first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/10/22/pmp-honors-hall-of-fame-class-of-2024/
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