University of Wisconsin, Madison, Plant Pathology, 1981, Ph D

University of Nebraska Lincoln, Microbiology, 1977, MS

University of Nebraska Lincoln, Microbiology, 1975, BS

Jan Leach is a plant pathologist who studies the molecular basis of plant disease susceptibility and resistance and how these responses are influenced by interactions within the phytobiome. She is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University. Leach is the Immediate Past President of the International Society of Plant Pathology and is a Fellow and a past President of the American Phytopathological Society (APS). She is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Leach was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2021. Leach received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and BS and MS degrees from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, with postdoctoral studies completed at East Malling Research, Kent, UK.