Katarina Borojević

(1928-2018)

Katarina Borojević (rođ. Popović) rođena je 17. novembra 1928. u Senti (Vojvodina,
Srbija). Osnovnu školu je završila u Novom Sadu, gimnaziju u Osijeku (1946),
Poljoprivredno -šumarski fakultet u Zagrebu (1952), specijalizirala je genetiku i
oplemenjivanje bilja u Zagrebu (1952/1953) i na Kornel univerzitetu u SAD (1956/1957). Doktorsku disertaciju pod naslovom Genetske promene izazvane radioaktivnim zračenjem kod Triticum speciesa odbranila je na Poljoprivrednom fakultetu u Zagrebu 1962. godine. Od stranih jezika govorila je engleski, služila se ruskim, italijanskim i nemačkim jezikom.

Kao agronom radila je od 1952. do 1956. u Poljoobskrbi u Zagrebu i u Zadružno-
semenarskom savezu Hrvatske. Sa suprugom Slavkom Borojevićem prešla je u Novi Sad 1957, gde je na Poljoprivrednom fakultetu izabrana za asistenta 1957/58. na predmetu Genetika i oplemenjivanje bilja. Izabrana je za docenta 1963, za vanrednog profesora 1970, a za redovnog profesora genetike na Prirodno-matematičkom fakultetu 1975. godine. Bila je direktor Instituta za biologiju Prirodno-matematičkog fakulteta od 1988. do 1990. Predavala je genetiku na redovnim i poslediplomskim studijama na Poljoprivrednom fakultetu i na Institutu za biologiju Prirodno-matematičkog fakulteta u Novom Sadu, potom na Medicinskom fakultetu u Novom Sadu, Fakultetu poljoprivrednih znanosti u Zagrebu, a genetiku i oplemenjivanje biljaka na Poljoprivrednom fakultetu u Vinkovcima Sveučilista u Osijeku. Kao gostujući profesor boravila je više puta na univerzitetima u SAD, Izraelu i Holandiji. Penzionisana je 1992. godine.

Autor je dva izdanja univerzitetskih udžbenika Genetika sa S. Borojevićem (1971. i
1974), dva izdanja knjige Geni i populacija (1986. i 1991.) i 14 skripata iz područja
genetike i oplemenjivanje bilja. Bila je mentor 180 diplomskih radova, 6 specijalističkih
radova, 11 magistarskih i 5 doktorskih disertacija. Sa svojim suprugom, akademikom
Slavkom Borojevićem, smatra se utemeljivačem moderne genetike na Univerzitetu u
Novom Sadu.

Bila je rukovodilac 10 domaćih i 10 internacionalnih naučnih projekata. Objavila je 220
naučnih i stručnih radova, a veliki broj radova je objavljen u inostranim časopisima.
Rezultati njenih istraživanja predstavljaju doprinos teoriji induciranih mutacija kod
biljaka, a imaju praktičnu primenu u evaluaciji zagadjenja sredine i genetskog
inženjeringa. Autor je 4 sorte pšenice i većeg broja mutatnih linija otpornih na
bolesti povišenog sadržaja proteina i niske stabljike, kao i nekoliko populacija lekovitog bilja.

Kao jedan od pionira i vodećih stručnjaka za mutacionu genetiku biljaka bila je izabrana za eksperta grupe za inducirane mutacije kod biljaka Internacionalne agencije za nuklearnu energiju (IAEA) u Beču (1966-1990), predsednik Sekcije za poliploidiju i mutacije Evropske asocijacije za oplemenjivanje bilja EUCARPIA (1972-74) i Evropske asocijacije za genetsku zaštitu sredine EEMS (1982-84). Bila je predsednik Društva genetičara i oplemenjivača biljaka Vojvodine (1978-80).

Dobitnik je Oktobarskih nagrada Novog Sada (1961. i 1971.) i Sedmojulske nagrade
Srbije (1986) kao i većeg broja priznanja i zahvalnica. Suprug joj je bio akademik Prof. dr Slavko Borojević (1919-1999), sin Dušan (1952) je profesor elektrotehnike, a kći Ksenija (1958) doktor arheologije.

Poslednjih deset godina živela je u Bostonu, SAD, pored kćerke Ksenije i njene
porodice. Leta je provodila u Novom Sadu. Preminula je u Bostonu 17. oktobra 2018.
Njeni posmrtni ostaci biće preneti u Novi Sad i urna položena na groblju Lisje u Novom Sadu 2019. godine.

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Katarina Borojevic (neé Popovic) was born on November 17, 1928 in Senta (Vojvodina, Serbia, Yugoslavia). She finished elementary school in Novi Sad, High School in Osijek (1946), and the College of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Zagreb (1952). She completed graduate specialization in Genetics and Plant Breeding in Zagreb (1952/1953) and at Cornell University in the USA (1956/1957). She received a PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Zagreb in 1962. Her doctoral dissertation was titled “Genetic changes induced by radioactive irradiation in the Triticum species”.

As a young agronomist, Katarina worked from 1952 to 1956 in Poljoobskrba (Agricultural Trade Company) in Zagreb and in the agricultural seed branch of the Ministry of Agriculture in Croatia. In 1957 she moved to Novi Sad together with her husband Slavko Borojevic who was invited to join the newly established College of Agriculture in Novi Sad. She became an assistant at the Department of Genetics at the College of Agriculture in Novi Sad in 1957/58. She was elected an assistant professor in 1963, an associate professor in 1970, and a full professor of Genetics at the Department of Biology at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 1975. She was the director of the Institute of Biology, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in (1988 -1990). Katarina Borojevic taught courses of genetics at undergraduate and graduate levels at the College of Agriculture and Department of Biology at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Novi Sad, College of Medicine in Novi Sad, College of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Zagreb, and genetics and plant breeding at the College of Agriculture in Vinkovci, University of Osijek. She was a visiting professor at several universities in the USA, Israel and the Netherlands on several occasions, including a Fulbright senior visiting scholar fellowship at UC Davis in 1978/79. Katarina Borojevic retired from the University of Novi Sad in 1992.

Katarina Borojevic is the author of two editions of university textbooks “Genetika” (Genetics) with S. Borojevic (1971 and 1974), two editions (1986 and 1991) of the book “Geni i Populacija” (Genes and Population), and 14 editions of course notes in the field of genetics and plant breeding. She was an advisor for 180 undergraduate theses, 6 specialization papers, 11 master’s theses, and 5 doctoral theses. Slavko Borojević along with Katarina were the founders of modern genetics at the University of Novi Sad.

Katarina was the principal investigator and co-investigator of 10 national and 10 international research projects. She has published over 220 scientific and professional papers; the majority of which were published in international journals. The results of her investigations represent important contributions to the theory of induced mutations, and to the study of protein content and resistance to diseases in wheat. The results of her research enabled the evaluation and monitoring of the effects of  pollution on genetic changes in plant populations in Serbia, and contributed to the development of new biotechnologies and genetic engineering. She is the creator of four wheat varieties, and a number of wheat mutant lines resistant to diseases, with high protein content and low stalks, as well as several varieties of medicinal plant cultivars.

As one of the pioneers and leading plant mutation scientists, she was elected to be an expert in the Program for Induced Mutations in Plants of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna (1966-1990); she was a president of the EUCARPIA Plant Polyploidy and Mutations Section of the European Plant Breeding Association (1972-74), and a councilor to the European Environmental Mutagen and Genomics Society (1982-84). She was a president of the Association of Geneticists and Plant Breeders of Vojvodina (1978-80).

Katarina Borojevic received the October Award of Novi Sad (1961 and 1971), the 7^th of July Prize of Serbia (1986), and was awarded a number of national and international honors and prizes. Her husband was Academician Prof. Dr. Slavko Borojevic (1919-1999). She has two children: a son Dr. Dushan Boroyevich (1952), professor of electrical engineering at Virginia Tech, and daughter Dr. Ksenija Borojevic (1958), anthropologist, working at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

For the last ten years, Katarina Borojevic lived in Brookline (Boston), Massachusetts, spending summers in Novi Sad. She passed away in Boston on October 17, 2018. Her remains will be buried next to her husband, Slavko Borojevic in the cemetery in Novi Sad in 2019.

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In memoriam for Professor Katarina Borojević, PhD (1928-2018) published in Biologia Serbica, Vol 40, No 2 (2018)
Source: http://www.borojevic.net/katarina-biography/