James Russell Hicks, an expert in vegetable storage and post-harvest physiology, died Nov. 26. He was 78.
Hicks’ career was dedicated to retaining the nutrition, flavor and consumer appeal of horticultural crops from field to plate. He is most known for his work on controlled atmospheric storage of cabbages and onions – two of New York’s most important vegetable crops. But he also worked with a wide variety of other crops, including carrots, sugar snap peas, sweet corn, broccoli, muskmelons, peppers, spinach, and winter squash.
“Jim was also a persistent advocate for improving taste and consumer appeal of tomatoes by harvesting at a riper stage,” notes Elmer Ewing, who was chair of the Vegetable Crops Department during most of Hicks’ tenure at Cornell.
Read more about Hicks’ achievements at the Cornell Chronicle here.
