July 7, 2006
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Viticulture and enology
Media Credit: Courtesy
Viticulture, enology professor dies
Harold Olmo remembered for his innovation, sense of adventure
Talia Kennedy
Posted: 7/6/06
Viticulture and enology professor Harold Olmo, known for discovering 29 grape varieties used in winemaking, died on June 30. He was 96.
“The passing of Professor Harold Olmo marks the end of an era for the wine and grape industry,” said Andrew Waterhouse, professor and interim chair of the department of viticulture and enology, in a press release. “His breadth of knowledge and his adventurous spirit were critical to the re-emergence of viticulture in California. His lasting imprint will be his tradition of innovation, illustrated by the tremendous collection of diverse Vitis vines that remain a key asset in California viticulture.”
Born in San Francisco in 1909, Olmo earned his bachelor’s degree in horticulture in 1931 and his doctorate in genetics in 1934 from UC Berkeley. He first taught at UC Davis in 1938 as an assistant professor.
Olmo retired in 1977 but remained active in his field. He traveled to several countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and India, while searching for new grape varieties and species for his collections, earning the nickname “Indiana Jones of Viticulture”. He released 29 grape varieties during his career, including the now widely grown redglobe, perlette, ruby seedless, ruby cabernet and rubired varieties. Olmo donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in patent royalties from these grape species to the department of viticulture and enology.
“Dr. Olmo was the world’s foremost grape species investigator; his experience and research served as a great help and example for the rest of us,” said Vern Singleton, professor emeritus of the viticulture and enology department.
Olmo earned many awards for his excellence in viticulture, including the Wilder Medal in 1958 and the Award of Merit in 1974 from the American Pomology Society, the Papal Medal from the Catholic Church in 1979 and the Rockefeller Spirit of Service Award from the International Executive Service Corps in 1993. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar and a consultant to the United Nations for over 20 years.
“He was the world’s greatest geneticist,” said Andy Walker, a professor in the department of viticulture and enology who first worked with Olmo in 1982 as a graduate student. “He was in the department every day, even after he retired. He was brilliant.”
Walker said Olmo’s greatest accomplishment was his work on grape variety development.
“The varieties he discovered are used all over the world,” he said. “He’s had huge impact. He was doing work that was about 50 years ahead of his time.”
The university library owns the Harold Olmo Collection, an extensive research anthology of reports, articles and field notes about grape-growing, particularly in California and the UC Davis vineyards.
The department of viticulture and enology has named a scholarship after Olmo. The Harold P. Olmo Scholarship is awarded once a year to an undergraduate or graduate viticulture student.
A public rosary will be held at Wiscombe’s Davis Funeral Chapel at 116 D St. in Davis today at 7 p.m. His funeral service, which is also open to the public, will be held at St. James Catholic Church at 1275 B St. in Davis July 7 at 1 p.m. The funeral will be followed by a celebration of Olmo’s life at the St. James Fellowship Hall. Friends and family are planning a memorial service on July 30, which would have been the eve of his 97th birthday.
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