Leonard Pike
Department of Horticultural Sciences
Director
Vegetable Improvement Center
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-2133
Phone: 979-845-7012
FAX: 979-862-4522
E-mail: l-pike@tamu.edu
Leonard Pike received his B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture from the University of Arkansas in 1962 and 1964, respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Horticulture in 1967 from Michigan State University. Dr. Pike is a Member of the Graduate Faculty of Texas A&M University, and can serve as a Chair, Co-chair or Member of Graduate Student Advising Committees.
Dr. Pike's research interests include plant genetics, breeding, biochemistry, physiology, pathology, nutrition and health. He has developed numerous cultivars that are grown worldwide. Currently, emphasis is on genetic improvement of vegetables with high levels of naturally occurring chemicals providing health benefits in our diet. He teaches a graduate course in commercial seed production.
"My philosophy to advising graduate students is to present problems which need research, let them choose one that interests them, then challenge them to solve it. I believe good students will do excellent research without a lot of guidance and learn by having to think and search for answers. I am always willing to help, but never attempt to think for the student. Good students must learn by observing, asking questions, reading and working in the research program."
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
"Onion Breeding." 1986. L.M. Pike. In Vegetable Breeding. Mark J. Bassett (ed.). AVI Publishing.
"'Texas Grano 1015Y', a mild pungency, sweet, shortday onion." 1988. L.M. Pike. HortScience 23:634-635.
"Cucumbers." 1988. L.M. Pike. In Detecting Mineral Nutrient Deficiencies in Tropical and Temperate Crops. Westview Press.
"A tissue culture technique for the asexual clonal propagation of genetic-cytoplasmic male sterile and/or other onion lines." 1989. L.M. Pike and K.S. Yoo. Scientia Horticulturae 45:31-36.
"A comparison between bags and boxes for shipping Texas short-day onions." 1989. L.M. Pike, K.S. Yoo and T.H. Camp. HortScience 24(4):631-632.