PWB Mourns Loss of Founder Dickson D. Despommier

Dickson D. Despommier, a scientist, innovator, author, and professor, passed away in New York City on February 7th , 2025, at 84. Despommier, one of the Co-Directors of Parasites Without Borders (PWB), a global health nonprofit and comprehensive, advanced educational resource and disseminator of basic and clinical information dealing with all aspects of the global problems associated with parasitic diseases, made critical contributions to the fields of medicine and science.

Born on June 5th, 1940 in New Orleans, Despommier received his B.S. in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, an M.S. in Medical Parasitology from Columbia University, and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Notre Dame before completing his Post-Doctoral Fellow at The Rockefeller University.

“Dickson was not only a dear friend of mine, he was also a leader and thought innovator in finding ways to educate the world about parasitic diseases, vertical farming, epidemiology, tropical medicine, and other global health issues,” says Dr. Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD, board certified in Infectious Disease and co-founder and president of PWB. “One of the biggest contributions he made was co-authoring the textbook, Parasitic Diseases, which our organization has given away thousands of hard and digital copies to educators and medical professionals around the world.”

Despommier spent 38 years as a professor of microbiology and public health in environmental health sciences at Columbia University, where he won the Best Teacher Award six times. In 2003, he received the American Medical Student Association’s National Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence. He was the author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century. His work on vertical farms has been featured on such top national media as the BBC, CNN, The Colbert Report, and The Tonight Show, as well as full-length articles in The New York Times, Times magazine, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. He spoke at the TED Conference, PopTech, and the World Science Festival. He was invited by the governments of China, India, Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, Canada, and South Korea to work on their environmental problems.

Most recently, Despommier was highly involved in Parasites Without Borders, attending conferences on its behalf and hosting the popular science podcast on MicrobeTV, This Week in Parasitism (TWiP). Despommier also lent his expertise to the video series Parasitic Diseases Lectures. He will be greatly missed by his friends, family, and colleagues.