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CORVALLIS - John Fryer, a distinguished professor emeritus of microbiology at Oregon State University and one of the world's leading experts on infectious diseases of salmon, has received the Award of Excellence from the American Fisheries Society.

This award, which is the highest individual honor made by this professional organization, recognizes outstanding science in the fields of fisheries and aquatic biology.

"Active in research for more than 40 years, Dr. Fryer has achieved international acclaim for his work on infectious diseases of Pacific salmon," organization officials said in making the award. "The research from his laboratory at OSU has spanned the disciplines of virology, parasitology, bacteriology, cell biology, immunology and fish physiology, resulting in more than 200 publications, two patents and recognition as one of the world's leading centers for research on infectious diseases of salmonid fishes."

Fryer's courses have been taken by more than 2,000 undergraduate students and more than 50 master's and doctoral students have earned degrees from research conducted in his laboratory. Fryer helped found the Fish Health Section of the American Fisheries Society and was its first president. He has also been an invited speaker at hundreds of conferences, served as adviser or editorial board member of several professional journals, and received numerous other career honors and awards.

The practical results of Fryer's research has been development of vaccines and diagnostic reagents for fish diseases that have had a major impact on the growth and management of cultured salmonid fish.

Fryer received his doctorate in microbiology from OSU in 1964 and has been on the OSU faculty since that time.