Marjorie Ann Hoy (19 May 1941 â 19 June 2020) was an American entomologist and geneticist known for her work using integrated pest management (IPM) and biological control in agriculture. She was Professor and Eminent Scholar at the University of Florida, Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Entomological Society of America. In 2004, she was awarded the Charles A. Black Award by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST).
Hoy was known as a pioneer in using genetic engineering to reduce the impact of agricultural pests, including developing pesticide resistant predators to control populations of destructive pests in areas where pesticides are applied. Her books include the textbook Insect Molecular Genetics, the third edition of which was published in 2013.
Hoy was born in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1941. She earned her BA at the University of Kansas in 1963, and completed her M.S. (1966) and PhD (1972) at the University of California, Berkeley. She was Research Entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (1973âÂÂ1974) and U.S. Forest Service Northeast Forest Experiment Station (1974âÂÂ1976) before joining the faculty at University of California, Berkeley, where she worked from 1976 to 1992. She joined the University of Florida in 1992. She died in Colorado on June 19, 2020, aged 79.