John Artie Browning was born in 1923 to John A. and Etta Ware Browning. In 1944, while attending Texas A&M, he enlisted in the Navy and served on the USS Saratoga as a communications officer. Browning graduated from Baylor University in 1947 with a B.S. in Biology.In 1953, hegraduated from Cornell Univesity with a Ph.D. in Plant pathology and began working at Iowa State University, where he taught for 28 years. His research focused on breeding disease-resistant multiline cultivars of oats with his colleagues Dr. Ken Frey and Dr. Marr Simons. Using an approach that emphasized the importance of genetic diversity as a natural disease retardant, they created rust-resistant varieties that perform well agriculturally.

Browning left ISU in 1981 to become the Plant Science departent head at Texas A&M. The department was reogranzied into the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology in 1985. Browning retired in 1990.

Throughout his career, Browning authored or co-authored numerous publications, including a book, 22 book chapters, over 40 papers in research journals, and more than 60 less technical papers. He gave frequent lectures and seminars on plant pathology and related topics. Although focused primarily on his research, he was also interested in the application of science to public policy and education. This led to his participation in a number of national and international panels and committees on Integrated Pest Management and other subjects. He also received a patent for an instrument he invented to collect data for his research at ISU.

Browning married Arra B. White in 1946 and they had three children. Browning died in 2013.

* Parts of this biographical note are copied from Dr. Brownings obituary, https://www.apsnet.org/members/community/phytopathologynews/obituaries/Pages/BrowningJArtie.aspx.