Contacts:
Howell Medders, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Fayetteville. 479-575-5647, hmedders@uark.edu.
Mary Hightower, Cooperative Extension Service, Little Rock. 501-671-2117, mhightower@uaex.edu.

EDITORS: Feel free to change to future tense and publish before Jan. 18.

LOCAL INTEREST: Fayetteville, Little Rock, Siloam Springs, Newport, Helena, Ashdown and Mississippi County.

Click on individual photos below to download full-resoultion versions.

Leslie C. "Sam" Atchley		Randy Chlapecka		Casandra Cox		Mike Duren
Yanbin Li		Susan Watkins		Duane Wolf

Eating and Moving for Life program team: Keith Cleek, Theresa James, Easter Tucker and Reyna Alvarez

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- The University of Arkansas System's Division of Agriculture recognized outstanding performance by faculty and staff members at an awards luncheon Friday at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center.

Vice President for Agriculture Milo Shult said, "These awards signify the excellence of services provided by our faculty and staff members throughout the state. I am extremely proud of their work in support of our state's dynamic agricultural sector, the environment, families and communities."

The Division of Agriculture includes the Cooperative Extension Service, which provides public education and service programs statewide, and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, which conducts research to assist producers and processors of food and fiber, other agribusinesses, families and rural communities. 

Many Division of Agriculture research and extension faculty members are also instructors on University of Arkansas campuses in Fayetteville, Monticello, Pine Bluff and Little Rock and at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

The Robert G. F. and Hazel Taylor Spitze Land Grant University Faculty Award for Excellence was presented to Duane Wolf, professor of crop, soil and environmental sciences at UA, Fayetteville. Wolf is director of the honors program in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and has served in many faculty leadership positions. His teaching and research are in soil science. The award carries a $3,000 stipend provided by the Spitzes, who graduated from the university in the 1940s and have had distinguished academic careers.

John W. White awards for outstanding teaching, research, extension service and teamwork are named for the U of A System's first vice president for agriculture when the Division of Agriculture was created in 1959.

The John W. White teaching award went to Casandra Cox of Siloam Springs, an instructor in the department of agricultural and extension education at UA, Fayetteville. Cox works with students as an advisor, mentor and instructor in courses on leadership, management and computer applications.

Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Yanbin Li of Fayetteville received the John W. White research award. The holder of the Tyson Endowed Chair in Biosensing Engineering, Li developed a biosensor system for rapid, in-field detection of the H5N1 avian influenza "bird flu" virus. He is also a leading scholar in detection of pathogenic bacteria in food products.

Poultry Specialist Susan Watkins of Fayetteville received the John W. White award for extension service at the state level. Watkins provides training and problem solving for poultry producers and industry personnel who work with producers. She has been director of the National Egg Quality School for four years and manages the student internship program for poultry science majors at the University of Arkansas.

The John W. White award recipient for extension service at the county level is Randy Chlapecka of Newport. As staff chair of the Jackson County extension office for 19 years he manages a comprehensive program of support for agriculture, community development, family and consumer education, and youth development through 4-H clubs.

The John W. White team award recognizes accomplishments of the "Eating and Moving for Life" program, which is a joint project of the Cooperative Extension Service and the Arkansas Minority Health Commission. Team members are Reyna Alvarez and Theresa James of the Sevier County extension office in Ashdown, Keith Cleek of the Phillips County extension office in Helena, and Easter Tucker, associate professor and nutrition specialist at the state extension office in Little Rock.

Mike Duren, program technician II at the Northeast Research and Extension Center in Keiser, received the non-classified support personnel award. He works with faculty scientists to manage their field research projects in rice, corn and grain sorghum at NEREC.

Leslie C. "Sam" Atchley, farm foreman at the Northeast Research and Extension Center in Keiser, received the classified support personnel award. He supervises a staff that helps manage field research plots and is responsible for shop operations and building and grounds maintenance.

Return to Agricultural Communication Services news release index page.