09/20/2010

Nine Ag Faculty Awarded Endowed Professorships

AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn President Jay Gogue has awarded endowed professorships to nine College of Agriculture faculty in recognition of their exceptional performance in teaching, research and outreach. The endowments were established as part of a university-wide campaign to fund 81 new professorships in one year. Endowed and named professorships are the most esteemed faculty honors Auburn awards.

Recipients of the professorships, seven in horticulture and two in entomology and plant pathology, are as follows

The Dr. Ronald L. Shumack Endowed Professorship in the Department of Horticulture has been awarded to horticulture professor Harry Ponder. Shumack is retired from nearly 50 years of service to Auburn and the horticulture field. At Auburn, he served as horticulture department professor and head and in top administrative positions for the College of Ag. Ponder has won major teaching awards at the university, state and national levels and is responsible for establishing the horticulture department’s highly successful internship and job-placement programs.

Joe Kloepper, professor of plant pathology, is the recipient of the Becker Underwood Endowed Professorship in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. Kloepper is an international authority in plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, bacteria that enhance plant development, and his research initiatives have generated more than $10 million in external grant funding since 1989. Becker Underwood is a global leader of innovative non-pesticide products.

Department of Horticulture professor Charles Gilliam now holds the Dr. William A. Jr. and Cecelia Dozier Endowed Professorship, which was established by the Doziers’ children along with generous contributions from the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Lee County Farmers Federation and Dozier’s colleagues in the horticulture department to honor Dozier for for his almost 50 years of service at Auburn. Gilliam, a former horticulture department chair and graduate program director, has earned top regional awards for his ornamental horticultural research.

The Dwight and Ruth Ann Nunn Bond Professorship in the Department of Horticulture—the seventh endowment the Bonds have created at Auburn—is now held by William Goff, Extension specialist and horticulture professor at Auburn. The Bonds, both Alabama Polytechnic Institute alumni, created the professorships to promote and strengthen the commitment to both service learning and the pecan industry. Goff has been involved with the pecan industry for more than 30 years, has written 300-plus articles about pecan production and has been recognized by the Louisiana pecan growers as the Outstanding U.S. Pecan Scientist.

A professorship that the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology faculty established to encourage and reward excellence in the department has been awarded to entomology professor Nannan Liu. Liu is known internationally as an authority in insect toxicology and molecular biology and in her 13 years at Auburn has secured more than $1.5 million in grant funding.

Recipient of the Jimmy and Chris Pursell Professorship in the Department of Horticulture is horticulture professor Joe Eakes. The Pursells established the endowment to acknowledge advancements that have been in world-changing fertilizer technologies and to help Auburn build the foremost public horticulture program in the nation. Eakes’s forté is landscape horticulture, and his outreach efforts have resulted in a unique project to overhaul the landscape at Fayetteville School near Sylacauga. That project has the Pursells’ support, as do Eakes’ current efforts to develop a public horticulture graduate program at Auburn.

Horticulture professor William Dozier is now the Dr. Harry G. Ponder Professor in the Department of Horticulture. The endowment to honor Ponder was created by gifts from friends, colleagues and students and former students and recognizes his key role in building the horticulture department’s national reputation. Dozier has devoted much of his half century at Auburn to teaching students and growers about commercial fruit production.

The Dr. Thomas H. Dodd Jr. Endowed Professorship in horticulture was bestowed on professor Gary Keever. Dodd, now deceased, was a lifelong nurseryman at his family’s nursery in Semmes and a pioneer in the nursery industry. Keever, who joined the department in 1982, has worked closely with the south Alabama nursery industry to improve plant production efficiency. His professional interests emphasize innovations in landscape gardening and design.

And finally, Jeff Sibley is now the Barbara and Charles Bohmann Professor in the Department of Horticulture. Friends of the Bohmanns created the professorship to recognize their lifelong commitments to the advancement and enjoyment of horticulture as well as their long service to the Garden Clubs of Alabama Inc. In his 14 years on the Auburn horticulture faculty, Sibley has directed the graduate programs of 35 students and has been honored for his outstanding service as adviser, researcher and teacher.

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Contact: Jamie Creamer, jcreamer@auburn.edu, 334-844-2783

OFFICE OF AG COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Auburn University College of Agriculture
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