Purdue Announces Dr. Kathy Heinsohn as 2024 Osmun Award Winner

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Department of Entomology announced that Dr. Kathy Heinsohn (Ph.D. '98) has been selected to receive the 2024 John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Achievement Award in Entomology. This award is presented annually by the department to an alumnus who has demonstrated excellence in their career as an entomologist, or in a related field.  

Heinsohn, technical and training entomologist/NIH contract entomologist at American Pest, an Anticimex company, Fulton, Md., is internationally regarded for her leadership in the field of urban and industrial pest management. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue Entomology in 1998, studying German cockroach control with Dr. Gary Bennett. 

During a career spanning more than 30 years, Heinsohn has led efforts in industrial pest management to safeguard human health while reducing non-target effects. Her initiatives include developing IPM programs for major U.S. federal agencies, notably the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of State, and Library of Congress. 

Heinsohn is a Fulbright Scholar (Germany '84-85), ESA awardee (2014 Distinguished Service Award), and winner of the 2024 PCT/Syngenta Crown Leadership Award. Throughout her career, Heinsohn has worked on diverse projects, ranging from Baltimore’s Zika virus taskforce to Washington, D.C.’s program to eradicate rats. She also is one of the last students who was mentored by Osmun, who served as head of the Purdue University Department of Entomology from 1956-1972. In 1987, the John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Achievement Award in Entomology was established in his honor.

As an alumna, Heinsohn has contributed in multiple areas, from helping to plan the department’s Centennial Celebration in 2012 to acting as a recurring presenter at the annual Purdue Pest Management Conference.
The 2024 John V. Osmun award ceremony will take place Jan. 31, at 2:30 pm in WSLR 116. Heinsohn will be recognized with her Crown Leadership Award later this month at PestWorld, in Denver.

Members of the Osmun award selection committee included: committee: Chair, Ian Kaplan and members Ameya Gondhalekar, Paul Cammer (MS ’74, PhD ‘85), Emily Justus, Julia Wooby and Mardelle Lorton for review of nominations and support of the selection process.