Walter S. Leal

Wittko Francke’s Daaks-Chemicals Memorial Lecture

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter S. Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) is known for his groundbreaking, innovative research on insect olfaction and chemical communication. His work has yielded more than 220 peer-reviewed papers and 20 book chapters. Born in Brazil, Leal was the first non-Japanese to earn tenure at Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. He joined UC Davis in 2000. Leal is a former President of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE), a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the California Academy of Sciences; a trustee of the Royal Entomological Society, a corresponding member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society (Hon. FRES), and the Entomological Society of America (ESA). Leal received the ISCE's Silver Medal and the Silverstein-Simeone awards. He gave the Founders' Memorial lecture honoring Tom Eisner at the 2019 ESA annual meeting. This year (2024), Leal was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the United States of America.