Dr. Balram Sharma Retires

      Dr. Balram Sharma has recently retired as head of the Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi.  Dr. Sharma was one of the founding members of the Pisum Genetics Association and long served on its Coordinating Committee.  He has been a highly productive researcher and mentor, performing or directing many studies on the genetics of characters in pea and related legumes.

      His current project is to reinstitute a journal focused on the lentil crop.  With the termination by ICARDA of the publication of Lens, there now is a lack of an appropriate journal for manuscripts dealing with that crop.  Dr. Sharma has been one of the primary forces in forming the Lentil Research Association, which intends to publish the Journal of Lentil Research.

      The Pisum Genetics Association gratefully acknowledges Dr. Sharma’s long service to this organization, his many contributions to our understanding of the genetics of pea, and his promotion of pea as a valuable genetic model for other organisms.  We are honored to extend to Dr. Sharma a life membership in the PGA and wish him the best of success in his future endeavors.