Damon Smith is the Vaughan-Bascom Professor of Plant Pathology and Extension Plant Pathologist at UW-Madison. Damon’s responsibilities include research and extension efforts that focus on improving our understanding of the epidemiology of plant pathogens in order to develop better control recommendations for the sustainable management of field and forage crop diseases. Damon is a native of Western New York State. He earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences at the State University of New York, College at Geneseo, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from North Carolina State University.