Robert M Smock

Obituary for Robert M. Smock
The Ithaca Journal, Apr 23 1986, P. 5

 "Professor emeritus Robert M. Smock, 77, of 303 Klinewoods Road, died Tuesday, April 22, 1986, at Tompkins Community Hospital. He was a son of the late Grant H. and Frances Mumford Smock.
  A graduate of Ohio State University, he was a professor of pomology in the department of controlled atmosphere storage for fruit at Cornell University for the past 49 years.
  Professor Smock was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a church elder. He had served on the board of directors of the Group Homes of Ithaca for many years and one of the homes, The Smock Home, was named after him.
  He is survived by his wife, Martha French Smock of Ithaca; two sons, David R. Smock of Scarsdale and William H. Smock of Berkeley, Calif.; a daughter, Sara Jane Cormier of Salem; six grandchildren; two brothers, William G. Smock of Cambridge, Md., and Arthur H. Smock of Cortland, Ohio; three sisters, Dorothy Larrabee, Isabelle Silverstone of New York City and Frances Erickson of Emporium, Pa.; and several nieces and nephews."

Extract from
Cornell Memorial Statement for Robert M. Smock (October 21, 1908 — April 22, 1986)

 "The name remained the same on the office door for nearly fifty years. The bearer of that name, whose professional life changed emphasis through the years and was punctuated with a variety of rewarding personal adventures, was Robert Smock. He enjoyed a bountiful career of personal interaction and postharvest pomology.
  Although Bob had an interest in laboratory physiology, exemplified by his published observations of orchard, handling, and storage factors that influenced the respiration rate of apples, applied research was the hallmark of his career in pomology. Most practical pomologists would consider their careers to be a success if they made one major contribution to the fruit industry. Bob made two.
  The first was his research on, and development of recommendations for the controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage of apples. From the late 1930s to the early 1950s his CA research was carried out under the physically adverse conditions imposed by the location of his storage laboratory in the wet basement of an old barn. He developed recommendations for the temperature and concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide to be used during CA storage of most apple cultivars grown in the United States. These recommendations are currently followed by most CA operators in North America and by many CA operators in other apple-growing regions. In addition to developing recommendations for the CA temperature and atmosphere, he personally worked with fruit growers for several years to develop recommendations for the construction, gas sealing, testing for air tightness, and operation of commercial CA rooms. The growth of the commercial CA industry in New York and New England, which preceded and set the example for the establishment of CA operations elsewhere in North America, can be attributed almost exclusively to Bob Smock’s adherence to the philosophy that changes are brought about by the actions of dedicated people.
  The physiological disorder storage scald caused multimillion-dollar losses to the world’s apple industry every year until Bob discovered that diphenylamine and ethoxyquin, used as postharvest treatments, controlled the disorder. This was his second major contribution. He spent several years screening scores of antioxidants before he found those two compounds, which consistently gave complete control of storage scald. He then acted through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to obtain the toxicological data to clear the compounds with the Food and Drug Administration, and he cooperated with commercial chemists to develop suitable formulations. Finally, since these were the first postharvest-prestorage materials to be applied to apples, he worked with growers to develop suitable application equipment."