Govindjee’s 90th birthday – Congratulations from friends and colleagues

On the occasion of the 90th birthday of Govindjee, Professor Emeritus of Plant Biology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), over 100 celebrants have sent felicitations and messages to thank him for mentoring, nurturing, and building the community of photosynthesis researchers belonging to four generations; and in making the scientific knowledge accessible to students and young researchers via his monumental writings and editorial contributions. Govindjee joined UIUC in September of 1956 to study as a graduate student in the laboratory of Robert Emerson. In 1961, he joined UIUC as an Assistant Professor and retired as a full professor in 1999. He is well-known for pioneering work in oxygenic photosynthesis, leading to the current Z-scheme, and for his breakthrough advances concerning light harvesting, primary charge separation, the role of bicarbonate on the two-electron gate of photosystem II, water oxidation, nonphotochemical quenching, and the use of biophysical techniques, such as prompt fluorescence, delayed fluorescence, thermoluminescence, and nuclear magnetic resonance. Today, despite his retirement, Govindjee continues to explore several important questions in the field of photosynthesis and documents the history of science. This tribute, in turn, attempts to capture scientific collaborations, as well as scholarly and personal contributions made by Govindjee to the lives of hundreds of scholars and students worldwide.