|
|
UW College of Agriculture honors ag award winnersWyoming The University of Wyoming College of Agriculture's outstanding alumni, research/outreach partner and legacy winners for 2007 will be honored Oct. 5 and 6 as part of Ag Appreciation Weekend, a celebration by UW of the importance of agriculture to the state's history, culture and economy. Outstanding alumni award recipients are Tom Davidson and Linda Melcher. The Legacy Award winner is Violet Dinwiddie, and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association is the 2007 Research/Outreach Partner of the Year. A trip to California as a young teacher was to fling Davidson's life from a Pinedale classroom to eventually being named one of the top 100 advertising sales representatives in the United States. Davidson said that, as a young man, he never could have imagined the life he and his wife, Ann, of Rock Springs, have had. "When in Pinedale teaching school, if someone would have walked up to me and told me someday I would be the Midwest manager of Good Housekeeping magazine in Chicago, you would imagine what my thoughts would have been," said Davidson, who retired in 2001. He remains extremely involved with the university. Davidson, who lives in Mukwonago, Wis., graduated from UW with a bachelor's degree in science and agricultural education in 1961, attending on a four-year track scholarship and lettering in basketball as a freshman. Davidson grew up with UW. His father, Jim, was shepherd for 36 years at the old university Stock Farm, which at that time was at the territorial prison. "Butch Cassidy was at the prison 2 years, and they have a picture of him there. I was there 18 and don't have one," Davidson quipped. He doesn't make light of the alumnus award. "My father being with the university as long as he was, my parents would really be proud of me," he said. "I'm honored. I think they would be proud of what is taking place." Melcher, a 27-year UW employee--25 of those with the UW Cooperative Extension Service--calls her time at UW a great ride. Her reputation born from establishing the Cent$ible Nutrition Program in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences ultimately led her away in 2005 to a nutritionist position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service in Dallas, Texas. CNP assists thousands of Wyoming residents, and Melcher's eyes tear when she reads comments from them. She won't take credit for the successes. "Everything I did was as a team," she explained. "I won't take credit for accomplishments, but what I will take credit for is assembling good teams. I'm a great catalyst. I would find out what people needed to do their jobs better, get it, and get out of the way and let them do their jobs. That's my whole management philosophy." The Legacy Award winner, Violet Dinwiddie, was born in the Laramie Valley 23 years after the founding of the university, attended UW, married a college alumnus and ranched near Laramie. Now living in Tucson, Ariz., Dinwiddie--mentally nimble at 98--believes the mission of the college is important. She created a charitable trust in 1998 to fund a scholarship for a student, and in 2004 she established another to support the research and outreach programs in diseases shared between livestock and wildlife. "I was always interested in agriculture, and my father was very interested in the university," said Dinwiddie. "I knew he would like to make a donation, and I was interested in the ag department. I felt it was a must. I think we need research in agriculture." Dinwiddie was born in Laramie, to Oda and Mamie Mason, and raised on her parent's ranch on Sand Creek about 18 miles south of Laramie. She and her husband, Jack, a college alumnus, were to later ranch with her parents near Centennial. Without the collective contributions by county government, the UW CES would be without staff, funding for operations and offices to provide services to citizens. In honor of that support, the WCCA has been selected the College of Agriculture's 2007 Research/Outreach Partner of the Year. Counties are part of the cooperative partnership trio, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and UW. "Each of the partners is important, but the county government contributions are critical to the success of Cooperative Extension," said Glen Whipple, UW CES director and associate dean in the college. "As the elected leaders of county government, the county commissioners are literally the college's partners in the extension enterprise." Kent Connelly, Lincoln County Board of County Commissioners, chairman and president of the WCCA, says he is pleased the association received the award. He views CES services vital to Wyoming citizens. "We are very happy the award came our way," he noted. "It reflects the efforts we are putting forth and the direction the county commissioners are going. In our commissioner meetings, we have a group trying to protect our Wyoming lifestyle. We have a lot of farmers and ranchers on county commissions, and we represent that very loudly." On the Web: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/.
Date: 10/4/07
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2011. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
|
