Bumpers College and Division of Agriculture announce faculty, staff awards

April 7, 2005

Contact Information:

Fred Miller, 479-575-5647 /mailto:%20fmiller@uark.edu

NOTE: Award recipients are from Faulkner, Drew, Crawford, Arkansas, Pulaski and Washington counties.
FAYETTEVILLE --- Awards for University of Arkansas faculty and staff in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and the U of A System's statewide Division of Agriculture have been announced by Dean Greg Weidemann and Vice President for Agriculture Milo Shult.

Awards will be presented at an Honors Convocation April 21 in the Arkansas Union Theatre.

The prestigious Spitze Land Grant University Faculty Award for Excellence in the three land-grant university missions of teaching, research and extension goes to Dr. Derrick M. Oosterhuis, the Clyde Sites Professor of International Crop Physiology, in the Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences.

Oosterhuis established the University's cotton physiology program and is nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in that discipline. He works closely with extension specialists and farmers on issues such as drought stress, plant nutrition and growth regulators. Master's and Ph.D. graduates trained by Oosterhuis are highly regarded in their field.

Dr. Gisela Erf, recipient of the Jack G. Justus Award for Teaching Excellence, is known campus-wide for innovation and dedication as a teacher in the Poultry Science Department. Dr. Erf used a USDA grant to equip a teaching laboratory and develop a course that provides hands-on research experience for undergraduate students, which is now a Bumpers College Honors Program course.

Both the Bumpers College Alumni Society Outstanding Advising Award and the John W. White Teaching Excellence Award are going to Dr. Jefferson D. Miller, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education. Miller's students praise his demanding but personable style of advising and teaching based on their individual needs. He uses experiential (hands-on) learning methods in the agricultural communications courses he teaches.

The John W. White awards, presented by the College and Division of Agriculture, also recognize excellence in research, extension and interdisciplinary teamwork. Recipients, in addition to Miller for teaching, are as follows.
  • Research: Dr. James C. Correll, Department of Plant Pathology, for basic and applied research on the diagnosis and control of plant diseases, particular in vegetables and rice. He was chosen in 2004 by his peers in the rice research community to lead a major national project funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  • Extension (State): Dr. Charles "Chuck" Wilson, Jr., extension agronomist for rice based at the Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, has primary responsibility for developing and disseminating recommendations for rice production in Arkansas.
  • Extension (County): Bill Dodgen was the first Area Rice Specialist in charge of Rice Research Verification Trials and is now Distinguished County Extension Agent-Staff Chair in Faulkner County.
  • Team: The world's most productive spinach research program is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of scientists who each devote a portion of their time to research on the genetics, production and health benefits of this important crop. Team members include Drs. Teddy Morelock and Brad Murphy, horticulture; Dr. James Correll, plant pathology; Drs. Nilda Burgos and Vibha Srivastava, crop, soil, and environmental sciences; Dr. Luke Howard, food science; Dr. Paul McLeod, entomology; Dr. Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, human environmental sciences; and Dennis Motes, director of the Vegetable Substation at Kibler.
Awards for excellence in Division of Agriculture staff support of research and extension programs are as follows.
  • Non-Classified Staff: Judy Howard, graphic designer and project manager, agricultural communication services, has had a major positive impact on the image of the Division and Bumpers College through the quality of printed publications.
  • Classified (Agricultural Experiment Station): Joyce Wilbanks, an accountant based at the Southeast Research and Extension Center (SEREC) at Monticello, supervises accounting at three Division locations: the Rice Research and Extension Center at Stuttgart, the SEREC-Rohwer Division and the SEREC at Monticello. She also provides accounting services for the agricultural teaching program at the University of Arkansas, Monticello.
  • Classified (Cooperative Extension Service): Amy Hedges is an administrative office supervisor for the Animal Science Section at the Cooperative Extension Service headquarters in Little Rock. She is highly regarded for her administrative skills and has served on many committees with faculty and administrators to fill staff positions and to consider policy issues.