Dr. Manjit S. Kang

CARBONDALE –Dr. Manjit S. Kang, 76, passed away on Thursday, May 2, 2024 at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.

Manjit was born on March 3, 1948 to the late Gurdit S. and the late Parminder K. (Brah) Kang in India. He married Dr. Neeta D. Sinnappah (Kang) on November 28, 2001 in Malaysia.

Manjit is survived by his wife, and his siblings and their respective spouses:

Brothers / Sister-in-laws

Harpreet S. / Rajinder K. Kang

Navreet S. / Sheryl Kang

Kanwaljit S. / Maninder K. Kang

Sisters / Brother-in-laws

Jatinder K. / (the late Madan Pal S. Sahota)

Satinder K. / Kuldip S. Riar

Khushwant K. / Manjit S. Mann

Manjit received his Ph.D. degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1977. He also earned, in 1977, an M.A. (Botany) degree from Southern Illinois University (SIU)-Carbondale. He received his M.S. (Plant Genetics) degree from SIU-Edwardsville in 1971. He earned a B.Sc. (Agri. & Animal Husbandry) degree with honors from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana (India) in 1968. He specialized in quantitative genetics as applied to crop improvement. His expertise was widely recognized and he received many prestigious honors and awards from various organizations. He has published 169 refereed journal articles in prestigious international journals, 43 book chapters/ encyclopedia essays, and 136 other technical publications. He has also edited or co-edited and authored or co-authored 15 books.

Manjit served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at Kansas State University, Manhattan until his demise. He served as Vice Chancellor (CEO) of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) at Ludhiana (April 2007 to April 2011). He previously served for 21 years as Professor of Quantitative Genetics in the School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge (USA). Prior to that, he was a Sugarcane Geneticist (Assistant Professor) with the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) at the University of Florida (1981-1986). He acquired industrial experience in hybrid maize breeding when he served as Research Station Manager and Senior Plant Breeder at Cargill, Inc., St. Peter, Minnesota (1977-1979).

The following were his honors and awards:

1. Fellow, American Society of Agronomy (1997) 
2. Fellow, Crop Science Society of America (1999) 
3. Fulbright-Hays Lecturing Award for Malaysia, U.S. Department of State, USIA (1999) 
4. South Dakota Crop Improvement Association and SD Agric. Exp. Station Lectureship Award (2005) 
5. Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer (2007-2009) 
6. Honorary Fellow, Punjab Academy of Sciences (2008) 
7. Honorary Fellow, Indian Society of Life Sciences (2008) 
8. Amity Univ. Academic Excellence Award (2010) 
9. Honorary Fellow, Crop Improvement Society of India (2011) 
10. S. Bishen Singh Samundri Memorial Lecture Award, Guru Nanak Dev Univ., Amritsar, India (2011) 
11. Chairman, Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship: US-India Educational Foundation (2010 and 2011)
12. Excellence Award in Agricultural Development: Jain Irrigation and Advisor Publications (November 2013) 
13. Conferment of the “Pride of Punjab” award by Chief Minister of Punjab (2018) 
14. ‘Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Achievers Award’ by the Punjab Government, during the celebration of 550th Birthday of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. 
15. Honorary Fellow, Plant Research Society (2022)

Teaching Honors:

1. Sedberry Teaching Foundation grant (Sept. 1991): Gave a talk at the international symposium on genotype-by-environment interaction in tree crops in Kuala Lumpur 
2. USDA/OICD grant to lecture on Quantitative Genetics at agricultural institution in Hungary (July/Aug. 1992) 
3. Teaching Merit Honor Roll (in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2007): Awarded by College of Agriculture and Gamma Sigma Delta. 
4. U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar to Malaysia (Teaching award: June 1 thru August 31, 1999)

Funeral Service will be on Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 3:00pm at Meredith Funeral Home in Carbondale. Visitation will be on Saturday from 2:00pm until the time of service.  For those who did not attend, the service was live streamed and can be watched here:  https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/a2405140687305

Meredith Funeral Home in Carbondale assisted the family with arrangements. To leave a story or memory of Manjit, visit www.meredithfh.com.