Don M. Huber, professor emeritus of plant pathology at Purdue University, holds a PhD from Michigan State University and is a graduate of the US Army Command & General Staff College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and National Security Program. His agricultural research over the past 55 years has focused on the epidemiology and control of soilborne plant pathogens with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls, nutrient-disease interactions, pesticide-disease interactions, physiology of host-parasite relationships and techniques for rapid microbial identification.

Huber has had several concurrent careers, including 14 years as a professional labor-relations conciliator with 7 years service as a mediator/fact-finder/conciliator. He retired in 1995 as associate director of the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (Colonel Retired, US Army) (now the National Center for Medical Intelligence) after 41+ years of active and reserve military service during which time he also commanded a strategic Medical Intelligence Detachment for 8 years with the US Army Medical Intelligence and Information Agency and Office of the Surgeon General. He is a past chairman of the USDA-APS National Plant Disease Recovery System, a member of the US Threat Pathogens Committee, and former member of the Advisory Board for the Office of Technology Assessment, US Congress (now Congressional Research Service) and Global Epidemiology and Quadripartite Medical Working Groups of the Office of the US Surgeon General. He is author or co-author of five books, 84 special invited publications and over 300 journal articles, Experiment Station Bulletins, book chapters and review articles. He is an active scientific reviewer, speaker, consultant and international research cooperator.