Life Member - Tribute - Barry Brennan, Ph.D.

Barry Brennan (left) with AAPSE President Mike Weaver at 2014 AAPSE National Workshop in Harrisburg, PA. Barry was awarded special recognition for his years of service to AAPSE, including his most recent service as JPSE Associate Editor.

Associate Editor of JPSE (2009-14).
AAPSE Special Recognition (2014, 2001, 1999, 1997)
AAPSE Life Member (2009)
AAPSE Fellow (2005)
Immediate Past President - 1999-2001
AAPSE President – 1997-99
President-Elect - 1995-97
AAPSE Charter Officer, Member – 1993 to 1997
AAPSE Founder (1991, 1993)
Multiple committee chairs and memberships, JPSE author, reviewer, editor
Cherished Friend, Colleague, Mentor
Described by many as the "father of AAPSE" -- Barry Brennan was one of the early founders of AAPSE. He was the catalyst that started the organization. He along with his colleagues started the discussion in 1991. That year a charter was drafted to establish the precursor to AAPSE -- the National Association of Pesticide Educators (NAPE). AAPSE became a reality officially in 1993 - members signed the second charter in a New Orleans PACT workshop. Had it not been for Barry the organization might not have existed. He also was instrumental, with Mike Weaver, for the idea of AAPSE hosting an academic journal. The Journal of Pesticide Safety Education (JPSE) was started in 1999. Barry served in multiple leadership roles including President. Barry's leadership will forever be known as a significant contribution to pesticide safety education.
Dr. Brennan had a long and illustrious career in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Barry came to Hawaiʻi in 1967 after graduating with his bachelor's degree in zoology from Arizona State University. He studied in the UH entomology department (now part of the Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences), earning his master's degree in 1969 and Ph.D. in 1975.
Barry Brennan was the University of Hawaiʻi.'s'Pesticide Coordinator and the Pesticide Applicator Training Coordinator from 1976 until 2001. He was a member of, and chaired the Department of Environmental Biochemistry. He took leave from August 1997 to January 1999 to work in Washington, DC , as associate national program leader for pesticide applicator training for the USDA/CSRS. His connections there helped AAPSE and his colleagues. Barry was an excellent ambassador for the program. He was appointed as CTAHR Associate Dean and Associate Director for Cooperative Extension for three years prior to his retirement in 2004. Barry also spent years in the Army Reserves.
In 2001, Brennan served as the PI for a Western Region IPM Center grant (American Pacific Pest Management Information Program). Pest management issues are often unique to this region because of crops, cropping systems, environmental conditions, and pests. Regulatory decisions affecting crop production practices can have a major impact on ultra-minor crop production as is found in the Pacific. The American Pacific Pest Management Information Network (the Network) allowed stakeholders to respond to federal regulations that affect use and usage of pesticides.
He was the co-PI (along with Lee Yudin) for the 1994 train-the-trainer project. From 2003 to 2006 Brennan served on both the Western Region IPM Centers Steering and Advisory committees. He was responsible for obtaining funding from Tropical Subtropical Agriculture Research (T-STAR) program to conduct Pest Management Strategic Plans (banana, papaya, coffee) and crop profiles (banana, taro, coffee, pineapple, watercress) for several crops grown in the Pacific.
In retirement, Barry remained active in his college as an emeritus professor. He helped form the American Pacific Pest Management Information Network, which allowed stakeholders to respond to federal regulations that affect the use of pesticides. This effort had a major impact on ultra-minor crop production in the Pacific region. In 2002, he took a lead in the Western Plant Diagnostic Network and was instrumental in establishing Hawaiʻi as a satellite diagnostic laboratory for the Pacific region.
Brennan also served as the lead editor of the book, Hawaiʻi’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources: Celebrating the First 100 Years. He and his wife, Barbara, endowed a fund within the UH Foundation to support the agrosecurity program.
Many organizations have recognized Brennan’s contributions. He received the Presidents’ Award from the American Association of Pesticide Safety Education for his years of dedication to pesticide safety education in 2018. In 2019, he was recognized as the CTAHR Outstanding Alumnus.
As a colleague, he took pride in his work. He was known as a hardworking person and came to work regularly after his retirement, devoting his time to ensure the college’s sustainability for as long as he could contribute.
Barry Brennan passed away at home in the early morning of January 27, 2021. Dr. Brennan is survived by his wife Barbara, son Brian and daughter-in-law Aileen, daughter Kathleen, and grandsons Kainoa and Kenji.
2014 Recognition Award: for more recent contributions to the organization...

"Barry Brennan is one of those people who has served AAPSE in practically every way possible. One of AAPSE's founders, early presidents, fellow, and leader of practically every aspect of the organization, Barry retired in 2009. At least we think he did. At the time, we were able to convince him to serve as associate editor of the Journal of Pesticide Safety Education. Barry has contributed to JPSE as an author, reviewer, editor, and founder. His other career involved his service as PSEP coordinator, and later, an Extension administrator at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. After years of distinguished service, Barry has passed the baton as associate editor to Fred Whitford. The role of associate editor is the most demanding job associated with JPSE. This editor must clock in all of the submissions; work with the authors, reviewers, and other editors; read each manuscript; and provide feedback at every stop in the review and editorial process. It is a very consuming job. Barry did it well and yet took a great deal of flak from authors and reviewers in trying to do his job. Being the patient and congenial person that he is, the process worked very well. The number of articles submitted to the journal during his tenure has risen significantly, in no small part because Barry has promoted the journal and made the editorial process flow. With Barry's retirement from the journal board, Fred is going to have to fill some mighty big shoes. It was actually Barry who convinced Fred to replace him. In doing so, Barry put JPSE in very good hands. With this recognition, AAPSE thanks Barry for his dedication to and hard work for the organization through his most recent support of JPSE, the AAPSE anniversary in 2011, and working with the AAPSE Board to organize this year's national workshop." (written by Mike Weaver, Sept. 2014)