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Huhnke named 2008 Sarkeys Distinguished ProfessorOklahoma Oklahoma State University's Ray Huhnke has been named the 2008 recipient of the Sarkeys Distinguished Professor Award by the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The Sarkeys award is based on outstanding contributions to agriculture through teaching, research or extension efforts. The award was established by the Sarkeys Foundation in 1980 to honor Elmo Baumann, an agronomist who worked with the foundation after his retirement from OSU. Huhnke serves as director of the DASNR Biobased Products and Energy Center. The main activity of the center is to coordinate and provide leadership for the division's nationally recognized bioenergy programs and serve as a liaison with the bioenergy industry. The center also is a catalyst for identifying multi-disciplinary priorities and enhancing the development of grants, contracts and cooperative agreements with government agencies, private industry, tribal nations and communities, thereby streamlining efforts to provide solutions to bioenergy issues. "We've been a national leader in examining and developing key aspects of bioenergy development since the early 1990s, and Ray has provided outstanding leadership through the years in helping to form and promote our vision of a decentralized renewable energy system, a key component in creating a viable biobased economy," said Robert E. Whitson, DASNR dean and director and vice president of OSU agricultural programs. In addition to his center duties, Huhnke serves as coordinator of the multi-college, multi-institutional OSU Biofuels Team. The team is comprised of scientists and engineers within DASNR; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; the University of Oklahoma; Mississippi State University and Brigham Young University. Huhnke also serves as assistant director of the Sun Grant Initiative's South-Central Region, headquartered at OSU's Stillwater campus. The Initiative is a national program established to create new biobased solutions for America's energy needs and to revitalize rural communities. An OSU faculty member since 1980, Huhnke is a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, an honor that only 2 percent of the organization's members achieve in their lifetime. He is the principal or co-principal investigator on grants and contracts exceeding $20 million. His extensive research and Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service programs have been honored by such diverse organizations as OSU, professional engineering societies and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to joining OSU, Huhnke was a plan service engineer with Midwest Plan Service of Ames, Iowa, from December 1976 to May 1980. He served as an instructor in Iowa State University's department of agricultural engineering from September 1974 to December 1976. Huhnke earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from Purdue University in 1973, master's degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Illinois in 1974 and doctoral degree in agricultural engineering from Iowa State University in 1980. 11/10/08 Date: 11/4/08
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