The science and legacies of Ronald Phillips: A brief perspective

Ronald Phillips, a maize geneticist, developed his career exploiting maize and the genetics of other species to help bring plant science into the era of molecular genetics. He was driven by belief in the value of service for the common good and in the value and importance of science for its own sake and for agriculture and food security, in particular. His career was a journey along the frontiers of plant science—from early DNA isolation to whole genome sequence revelations and into agricultural biotechnology. He represented the progress along the way in the maize genetics community, in national and international science and at the highest levels of influence. He was a caring, celebrated scientist who made a difference for people and institutions and left plant science so much further advanced than when he joined it in the mid‐1960s.