Author: nancy.vanatta
Company: USDA/ARS

Conversations from the Hall of Fame

Tien C. Tso, plant scientist, interviewed 2005

(Time: ~14:03 minutes)

I was born in China and because of the war I went to university, my university moved from the east to the west mountain area and at that time we don't have any support from family or from anywhere except the government to give us three meals a day so later on there is a tobacco scholarship available so I applied for that so since 1939 I work on tobacco. So I had masters degree in tobacco in 1947.

 I come to Penn State and studied tobacco chemistry had my PhD in 1950 then did a two year graduate work, post-doc work with a very famous professor coming from Germany he was escaping from the Nazis. Work in there two years at that time because I was not a citizen, though I have a green card, we don't know what I'm going to do I'm either going back to China or find some job here.

Suddenly, I received an invitation from the Department of State asking me to do tobacco research in Beltsville for a one year fellowship. That one year fellowship give me a chance to prove myself whether I can stay here or not. So research for one year is a short time. So I asked my at that time supervisor John McMurtry tell him that time tobacco research in USDA probably in the last days is the holy of the holies in the order of research out here.

So he asked me he said 'you choose your subject I give you a free hand and you prove yourself'. 
So I choose to work on subject to work on nicotine family that's alkaloid try to identify how many relative they got for nicotine and where they are formed, how they are formed, what they do in tobacco plant because that at time many other institutes are working on the same project.

It's a hard subject I tell you very challenging so actually because it's either swim or die so I put in 12 hour per day while other people put in 8, I put in 7 days a week while other people take 5. I just eat a piece of sandwich or bread at lunch time while other people take lunch break so with the help from many people from here provide me mentor at that time. I know quiet a few people here in the Hall of Fame study Harry Borthwick's work and so many people. 

We communicated freely and seek advice freely at that time particularly I have help from the Eastern Regional in Philadelphia that time George Irving was an administrator so by the end of the October had a major breakthrough immediately the word got out there's a big break through in Beltsville so people come the laboratory to watch what's going on or to talk so people ask me to work with me academic student or go to industry at that time I could pick anything I want. But the director of tobacco research here in Beltsville asked me to stay. He was joking with me he said well you came in from the back door now I'll let you come in from the side door. The side door at the USDA give a grant to University of Maryland. Maryland hired me as an associate professor and assigned me to work in Beltsville so in that case I didn't even have to move a table so from then on I would say that's the golden stage of my research career.

I became a citizen in 1959 stayed in same building, Building 1, until my retirement from 52-83. The United States want to know more about Chinese agriculture and want to cooperate with them for example for soybean germplasm, for the <unclear> swine, that's the pigs for different issue like this. So they put me in the collaborative mechanism to do work with it.

Of course I'm very much honored to be a member of the Hall of Fame. In fact before this I received almost all the honors which the plant agronomic society can give to me or USDA can give to me. From the regional area and then departmental and the White House twice for my tobacco research and for my house related tobacco research. 

Career Stages

Because in the very beginning I work in alkaloids different kinds of tobacco nicotine relatives how they formed, what their function and in the second stage I worked under organic metabolism with other component carbohydrate, starch and then in certain stage I work on growth regulators because at that time farmers and the industry wanted to growth regulators for tobacco. It seems so easy in the beginning but later I found out if you want to please farmer, please the industry it is not easy because they choose sometimes conflict, you get a high yield tobacco not necessarily they want it. And that the third stage and the fourth stage is smoking and health. 
 
Two other projects I'm doing. I hope I can finish it by the next two years. One is I try to write a memoir my experience from China to the United States and how I get to here. That would be a quiet to some people weird experience to write it. The second book I'm writing is untitled political correctness and academic research tobacco as a case in point which I will spare all the details, complete detail about my feeling why tobacco research is important. 

Is very important most basic plant science achievement is based on tobacco. For example in Pentagon now were it stands that's our Arlington farm by 1918 that is the first place they found photoperiodism to control the flower that's why in winter time we have flowers, there's a flower industry.

Basic nutrition come from tobacco, fiberization, biotechnology, quiet a few things come from, based on, tobacco research. And for the future, I was joking this morning tobacco is, all this knowledge is valuable to be used as food, to use as factory to manufacture drugs. You can have vaccine produced by tobacco plant, you can use biomass, you can use as a food with a protein got a much higher value in nutrition than other protein. 

Recommendations for Future Research 

First if ARS can come up with 10 or 15 hard questions important to agriculture but not yet answered, resolved. You study hard subject to select a group of people to work on like past pioneer laboratories. Give them freedom, given them time to think and give them room to fly give them enough support, let them go.

When you hire a person don't narrow down too strict a one single subject given them some more broad vision let them develop it themselves. So don't waste their talent. 

Working Here

I would say it's a very, very rewarding and pleasant. The first from '52 to '59 that I have more freedom than regular employee and I work hard but they gave me company support. Another thing that so many people here in the campus, I talking about Beltsville, that more authority not given here. So freedom I had, knowledge transformation I had, that is up to you. So I enjoyed that very, very much I know almost every ARS administrator and some of them I can call friends. Because Congress ask what to do, the farms ask what to do, the industry asking what to do, public asking you what to do, so it is challenging but challenging is an opportunity for you to develop yourself.