Tribute to Danny Schnell

We are deeply saddened that Danny Schnell, Professor and Chair of the Department of Plant Biology in the College of Natural Sciences, passed away on December 15, 2021 after a valiant fight with cancer from complications of his  treatment. Danny joined Plant Biology as Chair in 2016 after serving as Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Danny grew up in Nebraska, attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln as an undergraduate, and earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis. He began the research for which he is most well-known working with Nobel laureate Günter Blobel as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Rockefeller University. He then went as an Assistant Professor to Rutgers University, where he was promoted to Associate Professor, before being recruited to the University of Massachusetts and finally to MSU. He led the MSU Plant Biology department for five years.

Danny is internationally recognized for his outstanding contributions to understanding the mechanisms of protein import into chloroplasts in plants cells. Chloroplasts carry out photosynthesis, which captures CO₂ and converts it into the products on which life on earth depends. To perform this vital function, chloroplasts must import thousands of different proteins from the cytoplasm. Danny devoted much of his life’s work to understanding how chloroplast protein import is carried out and regulated. He and his group combined biochemical, structural and genetic strategies to elucidate critical steps in the import pathway in fine molecular detail. His work in this area was supported throughout his career by grants from NSF, NIH, USDA and DOE, attesting to the fundamental importance of his research and discoveries and the rigor and elegance of his scholarship. His studies revealed new functions for major components of the import machinery, uncovered new mechanisms regulating the developmental and physiological specificity of chloroplast protein import, and yielded significant insight into the evolution of the import complex. This work is important for understanding how plants adapt the functions of their chloroplasts in response to growth, development, and physiological and environmental changes.

Over the past 10 years, Danny also applied his expertise in chloroplast biology to developing the oilseed plant Camelina sativa as a sustainable bioenergy crop. This collaborative work combines tissue-specific and whole-plant systems biology approaches to identify processes that limit oilseed yields and develop strategies to overcome them. Under Danny’s leadership, an interdisciplinary team centered at MSU was awarded a $10M grant from the DOE to pursue this important research, which remains active.

Danny was selfless in his service and his dedicated leadership in the broader scientific community. Among his many contributions, he was elected Secretary of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), chaired the Program Planning Committee for the society’s annual meeting, and served on and chaired the ASPB Board of Trustees. He served on the editorial boards of numerous leading journals, including Plant Physiology, the Journal of Cell Biology, PLoS Biology and Nature-Scientific Reports. Remarkably, Danny also made time to organize several conferences, including the Gordon Research Conference on Protein Transport across Membranes and a conference on Organelle Biogenesis sponsored by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In recognition of his research contributions and scientific leadership, Danny received many honors, including being named a Fellow of both the American Society of Plant Biologists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Closer to home was Danny’s service to Plant Biology and MSU. As Chair he was dedicated to ensuring the success of every member of the department, and was especially proud of the accomplishments of the more junior faculty members. During the Covid crisis he worked tirelessly alongside support staff, faculty and other departmental leaders to coordinate and tend to the safety and well-being of our entire community. He led by example, always taking on more than his share of the burden not only within the department, but also at the College and University levels. Danny was also a kind and caring mentor to his many graduate students, postdocs and undergraduates. He was immensely supportive and proud of his research team and all of their contributions to the science he was so passionate about.

The appreciation felt by some of Danny’s mentees, colleagues and coworkers is reflected in the comments below. He will be deeply missed.

From Danny’s lab members— Hesham Abdullah, Linqu Han, Bibin Paulose, Emily Pawlowski, Megha Singhal and Rajneesh Singhal: “Danny motivated us to become better scientists, as well as better people, every day and in every way. His dedication to his work, but especially to all of us, was readily apparent in all our interactions with him.  Whether he was mentoring us through a particularly complicated experiment, or assisting a recently departed lab member with loose ends around town post-move, he never hesitated to provide whatever assistance we needed. We will miss him dearly.”

Tracey Barner, PLB Business Manager: “Danny was the best supervisor I have ever had in my 32-year MSU career. He was honest, supportive, and he taught me so many things. His departure leaves me sad but grateful for the years we worked together. I will miss working with him.”

Christoph Benning, MSU-DOE PRL Director: “It was a delight working with Danny on everything from building matters to annual reviews of PRL/PLB faculty members. His approach was honest and caring and I will miss our daily interactions.”

Erich Grotewold, Chair, Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology: “Danny was an outstanding collaborator and colleague, and I learnt immensely from him on how to manage the department. I will truly miss our regular interactions and joint bi-weekly lunches. His departure leaves an emptiness that will be difficult to fill.”

Jiming Jiang, Interim Chair, Dept. of Plant Biology: “Danny played an important role in recruiting me to MSU and PLB in 2017. He gave me a very warm and welcome feeling during my struggle to make my decision.”

Katherine Osteryoung, Professor, PLB: “I knew Danny long before he came to MSU because we worked in related fields and attended some of the same conferences. He was a superb scientist, yet was so humble about his own accomplishments. He always went out of his way to credit the work of his lab members and others around the world in his field of research. As Chair, Danny was also a champion of faculty, students and postdocs in PLB, and was always excited to share news of their successes. His passing is a great loss to our community. He will be greatly missed.”

Lynn Richardson, Ph.D., Research Administrator, Michigan State University: “I was a postdoc in Danny’s lab for several years, joining the lab at a particularly challenging time in my career. Danny was a tremendous support, and I cultivated many great relationships working with Danny over the years that were a reflection of his collaborative spirit. Danny was supportive of my research and career, while also being a genuinely kind person. The years spent in Danny’s lab were some of the most formative in my life, and I will always appreciate his mentorship and support. Danny was a passionate scientist, even as he became increasingly busy with administrative duties. Danny had high expectations to be sure, but his door was always open, and he was always excited to see our most recent results and celebrate the wins in the lab. He will be sorely missed by many people at MSU and beyond.”

This tribute was originally posted to Plant Biology.