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| Purdue ag alums awarded Certificates of Distinction |
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Eleven leaders in agriculture recently received the Purdue University Agricultural Alumni Assoc.’s highest honor in recognition of outstanding career-long service to their profession and communities.
The association presented Certificates of Distinction on Saturday, Feb. 5 during the annual Ag Alumni Fish Fry at the Blue Ribbon Pavilion on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
The 2011 honorees are:
•Beth Archer of Danville, Ind. Archer is the executive director of AgrIInstitute, an agriculture advocacy group based in Danville. Under her direction, AgrIInstitute has been recognized as the premier leadership opportunity for cultivating leadership in Indiana’s agriculture industry. She received a bachelor’s degree in home economics education from Purdue in 1979.
•William J. Beard of Frankfort, Ind. Beard is founder of Beard Industries, a worldwide leader in grain dryer manufacturing. He retired from the company in 2002 when it was acquired by CTB Industries.
•Byron Ernest of Lebanon, Ind. Ernest has spent the last 25 years in education and is working on his doctorate in teacher leadership. For the past six years he has been an agriculture instructor, FFA advisor and department head at Lebanon High School.
•Homer Ousley Jr. of Mentone, Ind. Ousley has been the crop farm manager for Creighton Brothers in Warsaw, Ind., for the past 40 years. He manages 8,000 acres of cropland, 1,200 acres of woodland and 700 acres of forage land using no-till farming.
•Joe Peden of Bloomington, Ind. Peden is a former USDA district conservationist and state agronomist and farms near Bloomington. As a soil conservationist, Peden educates farmers about no-till practices, building terraces and waterways.
•Brian Reichart of Frankton, Ind. Reichart is president and chief executive of Red Gold LLC, a family-owned and operated tomato processing company with headquarters in Orestes, Ind. When he became president and CEO, Reichert grew the company from a small regional and seasonal packer with 170 employees to a national supplier of tomato products with 1,328 employees.
•Scott Rumble of Lafayette, Ind. Rumble retired in 2002 following a 42-year career in Purdue Extension. During that time, Rumble worked in six Indiana counties. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Purdue in 1969.
•Jane Ade Stevens of Indianapolis. Stevens is executive director of the Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Corn Growers Assoc.. She has led producer trade missions to other countries to promote Indiana’s agricultural commodities. She received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communication from Purdue in 1969.
•Mark Townsend of Hartford City, Ind. Townsend is manager and part owner of Townsend Farms, a 2,400-sow operation and 2,200-acre crop farm in Grant and Blackford counties. Townsend Farms has persevered through difficult economic times to be one of the few remaining independent hog producers in Indiana. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue in 1977.
•John Trott of West Lafayette, Ind. Trott is a former director of Purdue Agricultural Centers and assistant to the director of Agricultural Research Programs. He received a bachelor’s degree in agronomy in 1964 and a master’s degree in youth development and agricultural education from Purdue in 1981.
•James Vorst of West Lafayette, Ind. Vorst served agriculture as a teacher and adviser in Purdue’s Department of Agronomy for 40 years, teaching crop production and other courses to more than 10,000 students until his retirement in 2010. |
| 2/9/2011 |
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