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The Society mourns the loss of world-renowned virologist Robert "Bob" Bradfield Tesh, who died September 14, 2026, in Galveston, Texas. The following is tribute to Dr. Tesh from his colleagues Shannan L. Rossi, PhD, FASTMH, Patricia V. Aguilar, PhD, FASTMH, Scott C. Weaver, PhD, FASTMH, and Nikos Vasilakis, PhD, FASTMH.
It is with sadness that we recognize the passing of Dr. Robert Tesh on Monday, September 14, 2026, in Galveston, Texas. Dr. Tesh was a valued member of our community, esteemed leader in the field of arbovirology, tropical and emerging infectious diseases, and close personal friend to many. During his long career spanning over 50 years, he made critical discoveries in the transovarial transmission of VSV, Zika and many other arboviruses, discovered and characterized many novel viruses, and curated the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses (WRCEVA). Dr. Tesh was also a long-time active member of ASTMH and the American Committee on Arthropod-Borne Viruses (ACAV). He served on the Executive Councils for ASTMH from 1985-1989 and ACAV from 1975-79, 1988-92, and 2000-2004. He received several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department of Pathology, UTMB; the William C. Gorgas, Merit Award from the Gorgas Memorial Institute in Panama; and the Richard M. Taylor award, the highest honor bestowed by ACAV. A strong proponent of international scientific collaboration, Dr. Tesh partnered with colleagues from all over the world and mentored hundreds of emerging scientists in the field, including many whose careers were deeply impacted by his wisdom and integrity.
Dr. Tesh was born on January 22, 1938 in Wilmington Delaware. He earned his B.S. in Zoology from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster Pennsylvania in 1957. He completed is medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1961, his internship at San Francisco General Hospital in 1962, and his residency in Pediatrics at the Gorgas Hospital at the canal zone in Panama in 1963. It was here that Tesh’s interests in tropical medicine were firmly planted. His interest in tropical diseases increased when he joined the Peace Corps from 1963-1965, caring for volunteers in Recife, Brazil, amidst a military coup. He then returned to Panama as the Head of the Epidemiology Section of NIH/NIAID’s Middle America Research unit, where he performed seminal research on vesicular stomatitis and other arboviruses under Karl Johnson, including demonstration of transovarial transmission of VSV. Following six years in Hawaii as a staff member of the Pacific research section of the NIH studying transovarial transmission of dengue, Japanese encephalitis and La Crosse viruses, in 1980, he joined the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit, within the Dept. of Epidemiology & Public Health, where he and Dr. Robert Shope served as curators of the largest collection of arboviruses, now known as the WRCEVA. At Yale, Dr. Tesh continued work on transovarial transmission of arboviruses, studied leishmaniasis in Colombia, and participated in the discovery of many zoonotic viruses including Guanarito in Venezuela. Then, in 1995, he moved to the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch where he focused on animal models for many arboviral infections as well as virus discovery until his retirement in January 2017.
Although his original training was as a physician in pediatric infectious diseases, most of Dr. Tesh’s career was spent doing field and laboratory research on the ecology, epidemiology, pathogenesis and characterization of arthropod-borne and other zoonotic viruses. While serving as the curator and director of the WRCEVA, he was involved in studies on the discovery and characterization (phenotypic as well as genetic) of novel viruses isolated from hematophagous insects, including studies on how these viruses are maintained in nature, especially by vertical or transovarial transmission. His characterization of novel or under-described viruses led to the discovery of viral vectors suitable for vaccine design. Importantly, both he and the WRCEVA were fundamental in the emergency responses to various major arboviral outbreaks, including dengue, chikungunya and Zika.
Over his career Dr. Tesh published over 500 peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, spanning journals including the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Medical Entomology, Lancet, Nature, Nature Medicine and Science. Tesh also served as a mentor to many graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists, many international, and many of which currently hold professorships, directorships and are leaders in their fields. His encyclopedic knowledge of arbovirology and its history, and ability to pull together various information courses made him a fount of knowledge upon which many in our community relied. His legacy through the scientists he trained and the WRCEVA will have a longlasting impact.
Dr. Tesh is survived by his wife and partner in the WRCEVA, Hilda Guzman, his brother Ken Tesh, his daughters Diana (Mark), Carolyn (Dan), and Natalia (Adam), four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. As a personal note, Tesh was an animal lover who amassed many species as pets, was an active swimmer and enjoyed playing practical jokes on his family.