March 23-24, 2000

ITEM 106-2002-R0300 RETIREMENT of Gordon A. McFeters, Department of Microbiology; Montana State University-Bozeman

THAT:�� Upon the occasion of the retirement of Gordon A. McFeters from the faculty of Montana State University-Bozeman, the Board of Regents wishes to express its appreciation for his service to the University, the Montana University System, and the people of the State of Montana.

EXPLANATION: Dr. McFeters has been a distinguished researcher and teacher >of microbiology at Montana State University for the past 33 years. He received his degree in Microbiology from Oregon State University in 1967 and joined the Montana State University faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Microbiology Department that same year. He has been on the faculty here since that time. During that time he has received numerous teaching and research awards including The Charles and Nora Wiley Faculty Award from Montana State University, the Sigma Xi Faculty Reserach Award from the Montana State University Chapter of Sigma Xi, Election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Anatartica Service Medal from the National Science Foundation. He has also served as the Chairman of the Aquatic and Terrestial Division of the American Society of Microbiology and has been on the Editorial Board of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Dr. McFeters' research has been on bacterial growth in aqueous environments, including natural aquarian systems and in drinking water. He is credited with the discovery of viable, but non-cultivatable bacteria that are present in water. He was also one of the discoverers of environmental biofilms. His work had a profound impact on assessments of the quality of drinking water and necessary treatment. This was recognized by NASA for whom he worked with the water recirculation systems on the space shuttle and by NSF, for whom he assessed microbial contamination of the waters of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. His research was funded by a series of grants from NSF, NASA, EPA, NIH, the American Water Works Association, and industrial sources. Over the years he has published more than 100 research papers, review articles, and textbook chapters.

For these and other contributions, the Board of Regents of Higher Education is pleased to confer upon Gordon A. McFeters the rank of Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at Montana State University and wishes him well for many pleasant years in the future.