Dr. Thomas Shotwell Phd.

Biography

Dr. Thomas Knight Shotwell
May 31, 1934 – July 9, 2011

Thomas Knight Shotwell, 77 of Dallas passed away Saturday, July 9, 2011. Graveside services will be held at 2:00 PM. Wednesday, July 13th, at Vaughan Cemetery with Rev. Dr. John McCormick officiating. Visitation will be 1:00-1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors in Hillsboro.

He was preceded in death by his parents, James Douglas (JD) Shotwell and Bonnie Maurine Shotwell, and his wife Shirley Imogene Plunkett Shotwell, who passed away a mere 52 days prior to his demise. Survivors include his younger brother, James Lynn Shotwell of Port Lavaca, TX, his older sister Betty Shotwell Turner Spradling of Menifee, CA and his only daughter, Sharon Kay Shotwell Hiss of Carrollton, TX and lastly his only 2 grandchildren, Janelle Nicole Hiss and Justin Kyle Hiss both of Carrollton, TX.

Dr. Shotwell was born in 1934 at his parent's home east of Hillsboro, TX. The family lived as tenant farmers but soon moved to a farm north of Hillsboro where his grandfather owned the land. In 1940 his parents purchased a 202-acre farm of their own 3 miles south of Hillsboro. It was a diversified family farm with cotton, corn, wheat, oats, hay-crops, and pasture with both beef and dairy cattle. To supplement their income his family grew a large vegetable garden, an orchard, and kept bees for selling honey, cattle, hogs, sheep, turkeys and chickens.

He attended Abbott elementary school for 2 years (with Willie Nelson) and in 1951 graduated, at the age of 16, from Hillsboro High School. Although his parents were not able to pay the cost of college, he immediately enrolled at Tarleton State in Stephenville, TX. He washed dishes at the dinning hall and gathered eggs at the poultry farm to pay his expenses. He hitchhiked home almost every weekend to care for his pigs and to date his future wife, Imogene Plunkett. After graduating from Tarleton he enrolled at Texas A&M in College Station where he received the Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1955 at the age of 20.

He then moved to Canton, Texas, to serve as Asst. County Extension Agent until he was called to active duty in the Army in 1956. Stationed first at Sandia Base in Albuquerque, NM, and later at Fort Bragg in NC, he was assigned to a nuclear combat unit that was on one-hour call to go anywhere and on field maneuvers almost continuously for the purpose of evaluating the feasibility of using nuclear weapons in routine combat. In 1958 he was honorably discharged and immediately enrolled at Texas A&M to pursue a master's degree.

He began teaching high school biology at The Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas. He was soon asked to teach botany and zoology in The Allen College, a private 2-yr college also in Bryan. After receiving his Masters degree in 1959 he was promoted to Head, Biological Sciences in the Allen College; however, he meanwhile continued studies at A&M until 1962 when he took a sabbatical from The Allen College and enrolled at Louisiana State University to complete work on his doctorate. In 1965, with the Doctor of Philosophy degree in hand, he decided, at the urging of his major professor, to spend a year teaching vocational agriculture in Charleston, Missouri, the heart of the corn belt on the Mississippi Delta. His weekly column in the Charleston Courier Enterprise was recognized by the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri as the best agricultural column in the state for 1965-66.

Dr. Shotwell next accepted a position as a Science Writer with a leading animal health pharmaceutical company (Salsbury Laboratories) in Charles City, IA, where he was quickly promoted to Regulatory Affairs Mgr., responsible for the firm’s communications with FDA, USDA, and EPA, including editing and assembly of applications for new drug, vaccine, and pesticide approvals at the state and federal levels. The work required frequent trips to attend scientific and industry meetings and especially trips to Washington, D.C. to meet with regulatory agency personnel.

After five years, Salsbury was struggling financially and Dr. Shotwell then accepted a position as Director of Regulatory Affairs at Zoecon Corporation, Dallas, Texas, where he continued the same type work on a variety of pesticides, drugs, pheromones, and juvenoids for 3 years before resigning to become the first independent industry consultant in the United States in the area of pharmaceutical research and regulatory affairs. In 1999, after having increased his revenues to more than a million dollars per year, He sold his 80 % share in the firm and retired to Runaway Bay, Texas. In May of 2000 he was elected Mayor of Runaway Bay for a 2-yr term.

Dr. Shotwell was elected President of the American Society of Agricultural Consultants in 1981 and was awarded the Society’s "Distinguished Service" award 3 times. In 1978 he was named to "Who’s Who in the South and Southwest" and to "Notable Americans". In 1979 he was named to "Men of Achievement" and listed in the "Dictionary of International Biography". In 1980 he was named to "Who’s Who in Technology Today" and to "The International Who’s Who of Intellectuals". In 1981 he was named to the "Directory of Distinguished Americans", "Community Leaders of America", and "Forensic Sciences Directory". In 1992 he was elected to "Who’s Who in Theology and Science".

With clients located in many countries, Dr. Shotwell traveled extensively in N. America, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. He has given lectures in Kansas City, MO, Hilton Head Island, SC, Nashville, TN, The Hague, Netherlands, Copenhagen, Denmark, Washington, DC, College Station and Dallas, TX, Savannah, GA, and Sydney, Australia. He has published 32 articles in the open literature and is author or co-author of eight books, one of which has been updated quarterly since June of 1980.

In 2001, he was named "Citizen of the Year" by the Runaway Bay, TX Chamber of Commerce and as an "Honorary Fireman" by the Runaway Bay Volunteer Fire Dept. He served as a member of the Board of Directors and as Publicity Chairman for the Off 380 Players (live theater) from 2001 to 2003, and as a Director of the West Wise County Leadership Program from 2002 to 2009. He also served on the Advisory Board for Weatherford College in Decatur, Texas, and as a member of the Historical Societies in both Bridgeport and Decatur. He authored and published his last book, Superbugs, in April of 2009, his website is still accessible at http://biontogeny.com/

Memorials may be made to the Vaughan Cemetery Association; 497 HCR 3111 W.; Abbott, TX 76621. Services are under the direction of Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors in Hillsboro.