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Fellow members of the American Society of Parasitologists and distinguished guests, welcome to the 2013 Presidential Address. Flow much fun it is to be able to introduce Dr. Eric Samuel Loker as this Society's 90th President. Fie has been a great friend and colleague for the last four decades and is one of the most gifted parasitologists and biologists that I have ever known. We are indeed fortunate to have Sam as a fellow member and President of our Society. So let's take a look at some of the metrics that verify Sam's stature as a leading scientist in our field.
Híe has more than 140 publications in top-tier journals and is clearly recognized internationally as a leader in studies of malacology as this relates to schistosomiasis. But the breadth of his expertise in these publications is what impresses. Not only does he do first-rate snail-schistosome epidemiology and ecology, but also zoogeography, evolutionary biology, systematics, and snail immunology. And he is clearly one of the most recognized comparative immunologists in the world. I find it especially pleasing that he does not discriminate between host and parasite but rather addresses both entities with equal vigor and enthusiasm. Flis abilities and reputation in these fields are clearly evident from the amount of funding he has generated since arriving at the University of New Mexico. We are talking about an average of nearly 1 million dollars a year in direct cost funding, with most of this coming from the National Institutes of Health. His counsel is in high demand from numerous governmental, international, and philanthropic organizations. And in addition to conducting cutting edge science, he has been active in the training of our next generation of parasitologists, directing 12 masters and 13 doctoral students and 15 postdoctoral fellows. He also teaches a diverse set of both undergraduate and graduate courses in a department with a broad, integrative view of biology. He has served his department well, not only as a faculty member, but also as Vice-Chair for 2 yr and as Chair for 6 yr. Finally, he has been an active member of our Society, serving...