Frank Dennis graduated from Cornell University with a BS in 1955 and completed his PhD in 1961. He came to MSU in the fall of 1968 to teach pomology courses (fruit growing) in the Department of Horticulture. His research centered around dormancy in fruit trees and the damage of frost, especially in cherry trees. He also worked in the area of parthenocarpy or the development of seedless fruit. Another of his research projects centered around gibberellins which were naturally occurring compounds in fruit that inhibit flowering thus reducing fruit set so berries are father apart and thus become larger. In the mid-1980s Dennis was one of the organizers of a working group on the production of temperate-zone fruits in the tropics and subtropics. He organized a conference in Quitu Equador in 1982 to study the growth of naranjilla (Spanish for "little orange") which is in the tomato family. Dennis served briefly on the Academic Council and University Curriculum Committee, contributing his editing talents to clarifying terminology for many of the motions that were passed. Following his retirement in 1996, Dennis wrote a history of the Department of Horticulture, served as an editor for four years of HortScience, worked on the history of his hometown (Rose, New York), edited a newsletter for that city, and photographed all tombstones in the Rose City cemetery. Topics Covered in Interview include: Walter Adams; M. John Bukovac; Art Cameron; Academic Council; University Curriculum Committee; National Science Foundation fellowship; Paul Edinger; Jim Flore; Bruce Fox; John Hannah; Bob Herner; Jack Kelly; George Kessler; George Martin; pomology; gibberellins; DDT; HortScience; SDS; Alar; ReTain; fruit set; Eugene Mielke; John Neilsen; Jean Nitsch; Mabel Smith; Bob Smock; Harold Tukey; Clifton Wharton; Don Wilson; Sylvan Wittwer
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