Family Credits Teamwork and Work Ethic for Success

Family Credits Teamwork and Work Ethic for Success

Parents Make College Education for their Children a Priority

By Haven Miller

Certain words come to mind when listing the values personified by students, faculty, and alumni of our UK College of Agriculture family — hard work, honesty, teamwork, perseverance.

These same words describe another family, the Koch family (pronounced “Cook”) of Bourbon County. Honesty and hard work are the central theme, and indeed the foundation, of a family story that began in central Kentucky more than three decades ago.

“I was a young single girl, and my sisters and I decided one Sunday afternoon to drive out to Stoner Creek Farm to visit a young man one of us knew named Gus Koch,” recalled Theresa Koch. “Gus was busy tending to a sick stallion named Count Fleet, and the last thing he needed was five girls showing up all a-twitter wanting to see his horses.”
Evidently, Gus Koch found time for both his work and the five sisters — particularly one of them. It was the first time he and Theresa had ever met, and three months later they were engaged. Five months later they were married.

Now, over 31 years later, Gus and Theresa live on the famous Claiborne Farm where Gus is assistant manager in charge of breeding stock. The couple has ten children: Charles, 31; Jennifer, 30; Becky, 28; Stephen, 26; Matthew, 24; Anthony, 21; Amy, 19; Cecilia, 18; Gus, 15; and Mary Regina, 12. Four of the children (Charles, Becky, Stephen, and Matthew) are graduates of the University of Kentucky. Two, Stephen and Matthew, are UK College of Agriculture alums, and Anthony is a senior finishing up his degree in agricultural economics at UK. Cecilia will enter the UK College of Agriculture this fall. All of them know the meaning of hard work.

“We don’t tolerate slackers,” said Gus. He and Theresa have always made sure each youngster carries his or her own weight. Part of their upbringing was, and still is, doing chores on their own farm in Bourbon County, and also at Claiborne Farm where they did everything from mucking stalls to weed-eating. Some of the boys also worked part-time at the local Southern States Co-op store. The girls worked in town at the hospital, pharmacy, and courthouse, or at the Claiborne office as a receptionist.

Gus credits his parents and the Marine Corps for instilling in him the values he has passed along to his children. “I had very good parents who did a good job of raising their family.”

Theresa’s parents also had strong convictions. “We were expected to either go to college or get a job, and if you got a job you were expected to contribute part of your earnings to the household finances,” said Theresa. “I worked as a long-distance operator for General Telephone, then worked in the Care-By Parent unit of the UK Medical Center, and then later as a secretary for a real estate office.”

After Gus and Theresa married, Gus continued on at Stoner Creek Stud for a while, then accepted a job offer from E.P. Taylor to work on Taylor’s Windfields Farm in Canada. Five years later the couple moved to Maryland to work on another one of Taylor’s farms. That’s where one of Gus’s charges was the famed racehorse and sire Northern Dancer. A year later the couple was back in Kentucky, working for the Hancock family at the renowned Claiborne Farm.
“It was the year of the contagious equine metritis scare and Gus had come down from Maryland to see what our farm was doing to control the disease,” said Claiborne owner Seth Hancock. “I had it in my mind to hire somebody to run the stallion and brood mare division, and I was pretty impressed with Gus. I’m big on first impressions, and I thought he looked you in the eye when he talked to you. He also had a good, firm handshake and asked sensible questions. I also knew Gus’s dad, so I knew he came from good stock, and that’s important whether you’re breeding horses or hiring people.”

That was 24 years ago, and the famous farm that has nurtured the growth of some of the world’s best equine athletes — Secretariat, Nijinsky, Seeking the Gold, Danzig, to name a few — has also nurtured the growth of an outstanding Kentucky family whose members embody the spirit of cooperation and teamwork.

“Since we’re such a big family, everybody had to learn to get along with one another, and everybody had to pull his or her own weight,” said oldest son Charles, a UK history grad who is employed at Claiborne. “Everyone had responsibilities, and if you said you were going to do something, you had to do it.”

Although the pull-your-own-weight philosophy may have seemed a little tough at times to the Koch children, they acknowledge that the lessons learned in youth are now paying off in adult life.

“Now that I’m a mother myself, I see the value of what my parents were teaching us,” said Becky (Koch) Mitchell, second oldest daughter and UK nursing school graduate.

“When we worked at the farm we learned that horses have to eat and it didn’t matter what day of the week it was — they didn’t get a day off and neither did we,” said Anthony, who’s a senior in the College of Agriculture.
“Those Koch boys worked their tails off for us,” said Seth Hancock proudly. “That’s why I knew they were all going to make it because when they were working here at Claiborne the other employees would grin and say, ‘Don’t put those guys working beside us — they make us look bad!’”

Anthony said growing up at Claiborne Farm was a great experience, but he really didn’t think about it in terms of living at a world-famous place until later years after he got to college and some friends said, “Wow, you live there!”
For anyone who knows the Kochs, it’s not surprising that all the children are either college graduates, in college, or college-bound. Education has always been a cornerstone of Koch family life, and the children were encouraged to excel in elementary and high school. Through the years the children also pursued a variety of school activities ranging from band to FFA.

“FFA is one of the best organizations at our local high school. It has played a big role within our family,” said Gus. “In addition to Anthony being a state FFA officer and Matthew a regional president, there were also a number of projects the boys did, including a nurse mare business where they would lease draft horses to Claiborne as nurse mares. This also taught them about business.”

Several Koch children play musical instruments and participated in band in both high school and college. Nine Koch children were in the high school band, and three played with the UK band.

One of Gus and Theresa’s highest priorities has been to ensure a college education for all 10 children. Some parents might have flinched at the thought of such a daunting financial challenge, but the Kochs have met the challenge with creativity, strict guidelines, and help from the Bourbon County Boys and Girls Funds.

“Any student in Bourbon County is eligible to apply for college funding, and it’s a unique, highly effective program that has been very generous to this family,” said Gus. “The money is provided by private donors in the county. Students have to keep their grades up, and they also go through an application and interview process to determine how much they will receive. There’s also another scholarship for the dependents of horse farm workers that’s been extremely helpful to us.”

Because scholarships alone were not enough, the Kochs worked out an innovative arrangement that involved part-time jobs, parental assistance, and a written agreement.

“We wrote out a contract for every child, starting with Charles,” said Theresa. “We figured up what their tuition, board, books and major expenses were going to be. We deducted their scholarship money, then went 50-50 with them. But the deal was that they had to keep their grades up and keep a job, or else they had to foot the whole bill themselves.”

“Some of them toward the end of college have had to borrow a little money, but they’ve all gotten out pretty much debt-free when they graduated,” said Gus. “And they worked by gosh, they learned a work ethic, and that’s what we wanted.”

Even though home was just 30 minutes away, the Koch collegians all lived on or near campus. Gus and Theresa believe living on campus is part of the university experience, and feel one of the great things about UK is that it’s just far enough away to “sever the cord,” but close enough so that Mom and Dad know what’s going on. They also believe that the College of Agriculture offers an extremely positive environment in which to learn.

“All colleges promise personal attention and guidance, but the UK College of Agriculture delivers,” said Gus. “For example, after an uninspired start, Stephen later enrolled in Dr. Loys Mather’s Food and Agricultural Marketing Principles class and suddenly became challenged and energized. His GPA soared and his ambitions came into focus. And Dr. Steve Vickner’s demands for excellence really inspired him, and today Stephen is an associate sales director at Keeneland. And I could go on — Dr. Lori Garkovich and Dr. Randy Weckman and Susan Skees and others all helped prepare our son Matthew in various ways to meet his career goals, and today he’s an officer in the United States Marine Corps. And Anthony, who’s at UK now, has valued the intelligence of Dr. Lee Maynard, who taught him grains and marketing and futures, and who inspired Anthony to win a national position with the student section of the American Association of Ag Economists.”

Gus said the best advertisement for a successful business — or college — is a satisfied customer, and that Stephen, Matthew and Anthony fit the category.
“At the urging of these three older brothers, our daughter Cecilia will start at the College of Agriculture next fall, and our son Gus, who’s a high school freshman, has already expressed interest in the Ag College when he’s old enough to apply,” said Gus.

Gus agreed that in many ways the College of Agriculture promotes the American values cherished by not just the Kochs but by many Kentucky families, and that in these challenging times for the nation it’s more important than ever for higher education to instill in young people a sense of honor and purpose.
“Theresa and I have taught our children to be true to their faith, to be upright, and to be good citizens, and the College of Agriculture reinforces those values,” said Gus. “We consider ourselves a farming family, and everybody who knows farming understands there are good times and also times when things are tough, and it’s our values that see us through when the going gets tough.”

[QUOTES]

Since we’re such a big family, everybody had to learn to get along with one another, and everybody had to pull
his or her own weight.–Charles Koch

Stephen and Matthew are UK College of Agriculture alums, and Anthony is a senior finishing up his degree in agricultural economics at UK. Cecilia will enter the UK College of Agriculture this fall. All of them know the meaning of hard work.

Theresa and I have taught our children to be true to their faith, to be upright, and to be good citizens,
and the College
of Agriculture reinforces those values.
-Gus Koch

[CAPTIONS]

Gus and Theresa Koch address the crowd at the 2001 Scholarship Banquet.

Anthony spending some time with alumni at Roundup.

Gus with son Anthony at Anthony’s workplace, Southern States in Paris.

The Koch sons pose behind their father, Gus, in this late 1990s photo. From left: Gus, Matthew, Charles, Stephen, and Anthony.

[SIDEBAR]

Koch Method of Putting 10 Children through College
• Instill a work ethic in your child
• Pursue local scholarships
• Make a contract with your child
• Help pay 50% if child keeps grades up
• Child lives on campus
• Expect child to work part-time

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UK Ag Grad Among World's Top Thoroughbred Breeders

Claiborne Farm’s Seth Hancock ’71
Represents Best of Equine Industry

By Haven Miller

Not many graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture begin their careers by spearheading a business syndicate that acquires one of the top Thoroughbred stallions in history. But that’s what 23-year-old Seth Hancock did in 1973. The horse was Triple-Crown-winner Secretariat.

“Obviously Secretariat was a great thrill and a very big deal, but when you’re 23 years old you tend to think that’s the way things are supposed to be,” said Hancock, owner of central Kentucky’s renowned Claiborne Farm. “Then you get a little older and get knocked around a bit, and you realize if it ever happens again you’ll appreciate it more.”

Hancock and his family have had much to appreciate. For nearly a century the Hancocks of Claiborne Farm have been in the forefront of the world’s Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales industry. The names of stallions that have stood at Claiborne are a “who’s who” of racing royalty: Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, Danzig, Swale, Unbridled, Go for Gin, Seeking the Gold, and Forty Niner. During its history the horse farm has raised more than 54 champions and hundreds more stakes winners.

“One of the biggest thrills for me was our success with that horse up there — Forty Niner,” Hancock said, gesturing toward a painting mounted above the mantel in his office. “Forty Niner won the Travers Stakes in New York. The person who trained him for us was Woody Stephens, who was getting along in years and had won the Derby but had never won the Travers.”

Like his grandfather, Arthur B. Hancock, Sr., and his father, A. B. “Bull” Hancock, Seth Hancock has combined a strong work ethic and a talent for the business to maintain the highest level of quality. His down-to-earth “take good care of the horse” philosophy and remarkable record of achievement have placed him among the world’s most-respected Thoroughbred breeders, a distinction officially recognized by the Thoroughbred Club of America when it honored him in 2000 for his outstanding contribution to the industry.

Hancock spent his early years on the farm in Bourbon County. It was during his senior year in prep school that he first thought about possibly attending UK, but he actually began his college career at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

“I’d gone to Woodberry Forest School for two years in Virginia and knew I was interested in agriculture, but Daddy had other ideas for me,” recalled Hancock. “I applied at Vandy and Centre and Sewanee, and finally decided on Sewanee. But I never really settled in, and was coming home to Kentucky nearly every weekend for football and basketball games. So finally I said ‘Listen, Daddy, I can either quit school or come back here to Kentucky,’ and he said, ‘You’ll pay your own way,’ and we talked some more and finally reached an arrangement where I ended up coming to UK.”

When asked about his student days at the College of Ag, Hancock recalled that they were “good ones.” He credits three classes in particular for providing him information and skills that would prove valuable during his career.
“I had a Feeds and Feeding class with Dr. Buck that was excellent. I also had a Farm Management class with Dr. (James E.) Criswell and a Vet Science class with Dr. (M. Ward) Crowe that were both outstanding,” he said. “The faculty at the College of Agriculture were a great group of people, and the students there were regular folks, studious and interested in learning, and I really enjoyed being there. Now some people might have thought I was going to stroll over there on campus and say, ‘My father owns a big farm in Paris and here I am,’ but I went over there to try to learn something. And I did learn something.”

Hancock said practical experience is also a good education, and one that should never be underestimated.
“Growing up on the farm and working there in the summers was some of the best experience that I could have,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re in agriculture, or studying to be a doctor, or pursuing some other field, practical experience is hard to beat.”

Nearly 30 years after his spectacular beginning, Hancock today credits three groups for his success: his clients, his fellow breeders, and his employees at Claiborne Farm.

“Our vets, our foremen, our managers, and all the other employees have played a huge role in our success because they take pride in what they do and know the value of the work ethic,” he said.
And his advice for the would-be Seth Hancocks now enrolled in the College of Agriculture?

“For the younger students I’d say don’t go to ag school and think, ‘Well, I’ve got this ag degree so now I’m going tocome out of here and set the world on fire,’ because if you don’t know how to work, you’ve got no chance,” he said. “And it doesn’t make any difference whether you’re in ag school or some other school, you’ve got to be ready to pay the price.”

[QUOTE]

The faculty at the College of Agriculture were a great group of people, and the students there were regular folks, studious and interested in learning, and I really
enjoyed being there.
-Seth Hancock

[CAPTIONS]

Claiborne Farm owner Seth Hancock, with Gus Koch in front of a portrait of Forty Niner, Hancock’s favorite horse.

Seth Hancock with horse, Unbridled.

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John Ward, Horse Trainer

John Ward, Horse Trainer
Riding His UK Experience to the Winner’s Circle.

By Martha Jackson

John T. Ward, Jr., ’68, trainer of the 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, was offering his horses a free trip to Florida. Lots of sun, some racing, all the feed you could want, just 17 hours away from the gray skies, dull grass, and bare trees of a Kentucky winter.

But Hero’s Tribute, one of Ward’s top contenders for the 2002 racing season, was hesitating. The horse made a few steps toward the van that was to take him south, then stopped. Ward grasped the horse’s bit and pulled him down to talk in a language that only horse and trainer know. Hero’s Tribute must have heard, because then he started moving toward the horse van, Florida, and maybe glory.

Ward ought to know what it is to postpone a new chapter. He did it himself about 35 years ago, when it was time to enroll as a freshman at UK.

“I took a semester off before I began. I was riding, showing hunters and jumpers,” Ward said.
He showed horses at Madison Square Garden, among other places, continuing an education in horses that began practically at birth— or, if you factor in heredity, before. Ward’s grandfather, John S. Ward, was a horse trainer, as was his father John T. Ward, Sr. His Uncle Sherrill and family friend Woody Stephens were both trainers, and both were elected to the Racing Hall of Fame.

Though horses beat out books that first semester, spring semester did finally arrive. Time to enroll. “Ag was where I fit in, because I had diverse interests,” Ward said. He also pledged, and later became an officer in, Delta Tau Delta. The fraternity and other parts of UK life gave him, he said, “long-term friendships, bonds, that endure the test of time.”
He already had some friendships among the ag professors. “UK had an Equine Department at that time. One of the Equine Department’s professors, Kob Ryen, taught me to ride when I was 6 years old,” Ward said.
At UK, Ward also found other professors who looked at what he already knew. Then they looked at what he wanted to do when he graduated. And they bent.

“I was allowed some freedoms to keep my participation [riding and showing horses] up,” Ward said. He found the right advisor in Jimmy Criswell, who taught ag economics. Criswell, he said, “was very structured” but understood that the educational foundation Ward already had was one not to be found in any curriculum.
Ward said Criswell told him: “You take things you think will help you in later life, and at the end of your junior year we’ll see what kind of major we can come up with.”

So, Ward took sciences. He took genetics. He took ag economics, which in the end became his major. The Ag Economics Department, he said, “taught me how to be totally practical, to learn how to apply my knowledge to the business scenario and be able to survive.”

If Ward were going to put it in non-romantic terms, he would probably say that one of the smartest things he did, just a few years out of school, was to marry Donna Clancy.

Donna Clancy Ward ’64 UK alumna, described by her husband as a city girl with a “raw love” for horses, started to ride only when she got to UK. She signed up for a riding program taught by Ward’s childhood riding instructor, Kob Ryen. “When she had a date in college he would ask her what she wanted to do. She said she wanted to go out and ride horses,” her husband said. Some of those boyfriends got broken bones, but Donna Ward just got better at riding.
The Wards are business partners, and both are trainers. Their notable wins include the 1995 Kentucky Oaks, the equivalent of the Kentucky Derby for fillies, with Gal in a Ruckus, and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, with Beautiful Pleasure, who was trained by Donna Ward.

Monarchos may have been the Derby winner that Ward trained, but he is not the only one Ward spotted. In 1999, Ward advised Japanese businessman Fusao Sekiguchi to buy a particular yearling at Keeneland’s July sale. The understanding was that the horse would be trained by someone on the West Coast, which Sekiguchi could reach more easily from Japan. Sekiguchi paid $4 million for the horse that was to become Fusaichi Pegasus, winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby. When Fusaichi Pegasus came to the finish line, Ward said his wife immediately headed for the Winner’s Circle. Someone asked her why, since the Wards had not been involved in Fusaichi Pegasus’ training.
“We’re going to practice!” said Donna Ward, the prophet, whose words bore fruit on a sunny Derby day in May 2001.

Monarchos, a steel-gray Thoroughbred owned by Tulsa businessman John Oxley and his wife, Debby, had been purchased as a 2-year-old for $170,000 at a sale in Florida sponsored by Thoroughbred auction firm Fasig-Tipton.
Monarchos was unique, Ward said, because he didn’t run in a race until 2001 began. And then he won the Florida Derby. As the Kentucky Derby neared, the media made much of what has been called an “unorthodox” training method: Ward didn’t put the horse through full workouts, as was expected. Few knew what to make of it.
But the Wards knew, and the story is now legend. Monarchos, ridden by jockey Jorge Chavez, started at the 16th post and was in 13th position for the first half-mile of the race. But then he began to surge forward. With a fraction of a mile left, Monarchos took the lead, and finally, won the race with an astounding time: one minute, 59 and 4/5 seconds, just 2/5 of a second off the record set by Secretariat in 1973.

Ward said he didn’t put Monarchos through the traditional pre-race workouts because he has “a very good understanding of a horse’s physical and mental makeup” and knew what would work for Monarchos.
“Last year proved to everybody you don’t have to force a horse into a grand early performance,” Ward said.
Monarchos went on to the remaining races in the Triple Crown to finish sixth in the Preakness and third in the Belmont Stakes. Ward now calls taking that journey “the most unbelievable roller coaster of your life. You are on an absolute high when you win [the Derby]. You’re going as the defending champion when you go to the Preakness, so there’s all the pressure and all the attention of the world on you. In this instance, it didn’t go according to plan. But then, when you go to the Belmont, you hit this low because you didn’t win [the Preakness]. You’re trying to redeem yourself in the Belmont, which we did to an extent.”

But winning the Derby as a native Kentuckian still makes him euphoric and emotional, and it has brought him untold rewards, like meeting a couple who came up to him in the Fort Lauderdale airport. “How’s Monarchos?” they said. “We bet on him.” He has also discovered how widespread the UK alumni network is.
“It’s become increasingly evident to me, after winning the Derby, you’ll find UK graduates as Ashland, Inc. executives, IBM executives, at the head of dot-com businesses,” he said. “You’ll find UK graduates all over the world.”
He also found out UK had prepared him for the newfound fame that came with a Derby win.
“UK does a wonderful job of not only preparing a person academically, but also preparing them to meet the public,” he said.

But it’s now a new racing season. “As for Derby contenders, it’s a little early to tell,” said Ward in an interview late last year. But he is confident enough about the months ahead that he provides some names from his stable worth remembering: Hero’s Tribute. The fillies Forest Secret and Snow Dance. “We’ll have strong representation in just about every older horse division,” Ward said.

Whatever this year holds, the Wards are likely to keep their eyes focused on what is best for the horse rather than on the prize. “As long as you grasp that, then if it doesn’t work and you get beat, so be it,” Ward said.
Last year, of course, it worked perfectly. This year, as the turf warms, the grass turns blue again, and horses come home to Kentucky, John Ward may have more perfect endings ahead.

[QUOTES]

UK does a wonderful job of not only preparing a person academically, but also preparing them to meet the public.
–John Ward

Patrick Gallagher ’02
Continuing the College Connection

By Martha Jackson

The Wards’ connection with UK continues. Now working for them is Patrick Gallagher, a Ph.D. graduate in veterinary sciences. Gallagher, a member of the class of 2002, finished his course work in August.
A Wisconsin native, Gallagher grew up with horses. His specialty is horse genetics, but Ward is teaching him how to train horses.

“This is a business that is passed down,” said Ward. He and his wife have no children, and Ward has made attempts in the past to take on a kind of “journeyman,” as he calls it, to pass on the knowledge he has acquired in his decades in the business.

“In the past, I would ask people how long they thought it would take them to learn to train a horse,” Ward said. The answers he got were something like “about two years.”
He asked Gallagher the same question.
“About 15 years,” Gallagher said.
Bingo.

He’s also proud of Gallagher’s work ethic: “He’s here at 4:30 a.m., seven days a week,” Ward said.
Ward said that those horse trainers with a college education are the most successful.
“I knew by [Gallagher’s] going through the UK doctoral process that he was exposed to a tremendous amount of knowledge that would help him grasp some of the most basic things about our business,” he said.
A higher education completed in horse-driven Lexington was another asset for Ward, giving Gallagher an understanding of the business he would not get in another doctoral veterinary program.

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Larry Turner Named New Leader for Cooperative Extension

Larry Turner ’84 Named New Leader
for Cooperative Extension
By Haven Miller

If it weren’t for a bend in the Ohio River, Indiana native Larry Turner would have been born a Kentuckian. That’s because his father’s farm near the little town of Rising Sun was only a stone’s throw across the water from the Bluegrass state.

As fortune would have it, he became a Kentuckian anyway. Twenty-three years ago Turner moved to Lexington to accept a position with the UK College of Agriculture and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Last November he was named UK’s new Associate Director and Associate Dean for Extension, meaning he now leads the state’s 400-agent Cooperative Extension Service. Turner’s mission is a vital one for his College and for his state.
“I’m extremely pleased by the selection of Dr. Turner to this crucially important leadership position,” said M. Scott Smith, Dean of the College of Agriculture. “He has the experience, the understanding of the issues, the communication skills, and the vision necessary to lead our state’s Cooperative Extension Service into the 21st Century.”

Turner, 47, joined UK in 1978 as an Extension agricultural engineer and faculty member in energy management and conservation. Since 1999 he has chaired UK’s Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department, administering an annual budget of more than $5 million. He views Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension system as the combination of three critically important parts: people, programs and partnerships.

“Extension’s primary goal should be improving the lives of Kentucky’s people,” he said. “Our programs for agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4-H/youth, and community development are needed now more than ever.” Turner said effective programming requires support for the people who deliver those programs.
“This means supporting our county agents and staff, our specialists and state staff, and all the people who assist their efforts,” he said. “We should clearly define our programs with consensus from our local councils and other interest groups, and enhance the development of partnerships.”

While Turner believes Kentucky Cooperative Extension faces many challenges, he also believes challenges can lead to unique opportunities.

He said one of the challenges is making sure Extension has the resources available to serve its clientele. An example is the recent approval of funding for the Health Education through Extension Leadership (HEEL) partnership, an initiative that will allow Extension professionals to partner with experts in the UK College of Medicine to improve and support ongoing health education projects in Kentucky.

“Through HEEL we will have a new level of access to expertise — the Preventive Medicine Department of the College of Medicine — and that will give us the same kind of subject matter support that we’ve traditionally had in other areas,” Turner said. “With HEEL we have an opportunity for preparing programs at the state level to address critical health issues and help people at the local level.”

Turner led multi-state, multi-disciplinary efforts in development of a swine growth computer model now used in four states. Under his leadership, the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department increased external research and Extension grants from an annual level of $250,000 in 1999 to more than $4 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Turner’s wife of 25 years, Lois, is a junior high math teacher. The couple has three children: Molly, 21; Amy, 17; and Clay, 14.

[BOX]

Education

B.S. — Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University, 1976
M.S. — Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University, 1978
Ph.D. — Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky, 1984

Professional Experience

1978-1980 Extension Agricultural Engineer, University of Kentucky
1980-1981 Vice President, Turner Farms, Inc., and Consulting Engineer, Turner Engineering, Rising Sun, Indiana
1981-1984 Research Specialist, UK
1984-1989 Assistant Extension Professor, UK
1992-1993 Visiting Scientist, Silsoe Research Institute, Silsoe, Bedford, England
1989-1994 Associate Extension Professor, UK
1994-1999 Extension Professor, UK
1999-2001 Chair, Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, UK
2002 Associate Director and Associate Dean for Extension, UK

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Scholarships - Our Best Investment in Tomorrow.

Ask a student, or a professor, or a parent, and he or she will likely tell you that scholarships do make a difference. In many of our own lives, receiving scholarship money made the difference between finishing school on schedule or taking time off to save money, or between attending our first-choice school or settling for a more affordable institution. Many of our graduates have told me that without the support of an ag scholarship, college would have been impossible. This Ambassador issue of the magazine features several stories about how scholarships have changed and continue to change lives.

For our college, scholarships may determine whether we educate the next generation of leaders in agriculture, food, and natural resources or whether we relinquish that privilege to someone else. While the College of Agriculture continues our long-standing commitment to student support, increasing educational and living costs threaten the buying power of our scholarship endowment. Over the next few years, we need to strengthen our scholarship portfolio to sustain the accessibility of the wonderful educational experience found here.

UK President Lee T. Todd, Jr.’s decision to provide tuition scholarships to all qualifying Governor’s Scholars and children of out-of-state alumni is a great first step (see accompanying article on this page). In the future, we would like to be able to extend a comparable offer to all those Kentucky students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in FFA, 4-H, or similar programs, regardless of whether their ACT/SAT scores are exceptional or not. I hope we will all work together to achieve this goal, increasing our best investment in the future— scholarships.

M. Scott Smith
Dean & Director

If you are interested in learning more about College of Agriculture scholarships or in making a contribution to scholarship funds, contact the Office of Development at (859) 257-7200, or
e-mail William Sheets, Director for Advancement, at wsheets@uky.edu. Or visit our Web site at dobson.ca.uky.edu/alumdev.

In-State Tuition Plan for Children of Out-of-State
UK Alumni

In his column on this page, Dean Smith refers to a new scholarship, the Legacy Tuition Program, begun by UK President Lee T. Todd, Jr. The scholarship will be offered for the first time for the fall 2002 semester (deadline for application this fall was February 15, 2002). Here are the details of the program.

Legacy Tuition Program
The University of Kentucky offers in-state tuition to non-resident undergraduate children of UK graduates.

Who is Eligible?
• Students enrolled full time in an undergraduate program, pursuing a bachelor’s degree on main campus
• Qualifying parent or stepparent who earned a degree from the University of Kentucky (see below)
• Students must remain in good academic standing at the University (i.e., not suspended)
• Qualifying Parent
• must be a member of the UK Alumni Association
• must have earned an undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree from the University of Kentucky
• biological, adoptive, and stepparents qualify, if student submits legal documentation for verification

All undergraduates at the University who meet admission criteria, complete the required application, and provide appropriate verification will receive the tuition package.

Contact Information
Jeffery Bewley, Director of Student Relations
N-6 Agricultural Science Center
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0091
Phone: (859) 257-3469
E-mail: jbewley@uky.edu

[CAPTION]

The annual College of Agriculture Scholarship Banquet allows scholarship recipients and their parents to interact with the donors of the various scholarships.

UK Admission Requirements

One of the most frequently asked questions by alumni is what are the requirements to get into the University of Kentucky. Here is some basic information about admission requirements.

Does UK have selective admissions?
Yes, it is based on high school grades, national college admission test results and successful completion of the required pre-college curriculum. The level of requirements varies with the pool of applications that are received.

Why do we have selective admissions?
The number of freshman applications far exceeds the number of spaces available.

What happens if an applicant doesn’t make the cut?
They are placed on a deferred decision list. If spaces in the freshman class still remain to be filled after the deadline for applications has passed, some of these students on the deferred list may still be selected.
Admission will be offered first to those applicants with the strongest records, which not only includes their g.p.a. and ACT scores but may also be determined by factors such as extracurricular and leadership activities, level of classes taken in high school, and a student’s potential to benefit from or contribute to the learning community. The overriding concern will always be for the student’s potential to be successful in meeting the academic expectations of the University.

What about the Community College option?
This is also a wonderful option for a beginning student. Students who begin at Lexington Community College will still have the same opportunities as main campus students (e.g., living in the dorms, participating in student activities), but they will have the opportunity to take some of their basic courses in a much smaller classroom setting.

For more information, contact Jeffrey Bewley at the address on page 12 or visit the following Web sites: www.uky.edu/UGAdmission or www.ca.uky.edu/Students.

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Student Life - Then and Now. A Trip Back in Time

By Grace Correll

We’ve all heard of “the good old days.”
Have you ever wondered what made them so good?
Just for fun, we decided to take a look back at those times, and how things have changed in 50 years at the College of Agriculture. We wanted to compare the life of a student in the year 2002 with that of a student from over 50 years ago. We found that while much has changed, some things have remained the same.

We drew upon the five decades of wisdom of Dr. Jim Kemp ’48,’49; Dr. Bill Moody, ’56,’57; Bob Culton, ’51; and Charles Butterworth, ’49.

One theme that rang true for all these men was that it was a time of war for our country, with World War II and the Korean War raging then. Because of the war, some students’ education was interrupted or delayed because they were called into military service.

The year 2002 finds our nation again at war, but this generation has a choice as to whether or not to enlist in the armed forces, unlike generations past.

As Jim Kemp recalls, “When I graduated from high school, I just stayed home and farmed until Uncle Sam called because anyone who was able was expected to serve.”
Moody echoed the expectation that all young men would serve in the military. “All male students were required to take two years of basic ROTC when I was in school,” he said.

Because of their stints in the military, the graduates of the 1950s typically were a little older than an average college student, and a large portion of their education was paid for with the GI Bill.
In 1946 Kemp’s GI bill paid for tuition and books and supplied him $90 per month in spending money. Of the other three, some received a little scholarship money, and all of them had some type of part-time job.
A-a-a-h-h, yes, those wonderful student jobs. These four were employed on and off campus, earning wages that these days would seem, well. . . modest. Kemp was paid $.70 an hour at a construction company that built the Cooperstown Apartments, an on-campus housing complex. Bob Culton and Charles Butterworth were both employed off campus: Culton worked for Sears and Roebuck for a whopping $.50 an hour, while Butterworth earned double that rate per hour at a Greek restaurant.

All of the men learned many lessons from those jobs during school — lessons they took with them into their future careers. Butterworth was once berated by a manager for not handling a small problem himself. “He (the manager) said any time something happens that you can take care of promptly without going to someone else for help, take care of it! I learned responsibility without complaining and do not try to put blame on someone for trivial matters that can be taken care of with minimum effort without getting someone else in trouble,” Butterworth said.

Culton, a successful entrepreneur, said one of the best lessons he learned from his college education was that if you didn’t know an answer to something, that the answer was out there; you just had to find it yourself. “My college experience gave me a lot of self-assurance,” he said.

They all found time for fun, too. They were active in many of the same clubs and organizations that we have on campus today, including AGR, FarmHouse, Alpha Zeta, Block and Bridle Club, and the various judging teams.
Butterworth may have had a little too much fun on a train ride back from the Great Lakes Bowl that the Wildcats played in the late ’40s.

“On the train I learned a new card game called black jack. That was my first experience with gambling. I lost some money, but did not have much money to lose. The lesson taught me that ’tis more blessed to win than lose, and money is too hard to earn to take a chance on losing it just because someone can add up to 21,” Butterworth said.
One recurring theme through all the generations was best described by Moody, who not only was a student at the College but also served on the faculty for 37 years.

“The College of Agriculture cares about its students, faculty, and staff. The faculty and administrators always took an interest in the students and made them feel welcome. That hasn’t changed over the years,” he noted.

[CAPTIONS[

Bill Moody and John Kuegel in uniform in 1956, their last year in college and ROTC.

Members of meats judging team from mid 1950s. Clockwise from top left: Bill Moody, Oliver Deaton, Doug McDonald, Doyle Oliver, and Paul Rogers.

Bill Moody, working towards his MS in 1957.

Jim Kemp on graduation day (BS)

Block and Bridle Horse Show, 1955

Ag Students of Today
Set Fast Pace in Race to Success

Ag Ambassador Stephanie Goode Shares ‘Typical Day’ With Us

Up early. Class at 8:00. Student Council meeting. Another class. Meet with fellow students. Meet with professor. Squeeze in some homework. Another class. Grab some lunch. Another meeting. Library, computer, cell phone, more homework. And oh yes, work at the part-time job.

Welcome to the world of today’s agriculture student — welcome to a typical day in the life of Stephanie Goode, University of Kentucky junior majoring in agricultural education. “My day is pretty jam packed,” said Goode, who credits her high school affiliation with the Institute for Future Agriculture Leaders (IFAL) for introducing her to UK’s ag program. “I hadn’t really thought about coming to IFAL at UK, but just by chance I did and I fell in love with the campus,” she said.

With help from her parents, loans, and a part-time job, Goode is earning her education in the truest sense of the word. Since starting at UK she has worked one or two jobs per semester, including one in the Department of Agricultural Economics.

“Through that job and others I’ve learned time-management skills, which play a big part in today’s world,” she said.
She also received a scholarship from the College of Agriculture. “The College has been very supportive,” she said.
Goode usually takes between 15 and 17 credit hours per semester. Her classes typically start each day at either 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. and run until noon. After class she goes to work at a local tanning business, where she puts in 20 to 30 hours a week. Typically, she will have one or two meetings a week with either the Agriculture Ambassadors group (representatives made up of the College’s best students) or CERES, the women’s ag fraternity.
And where does the energy come from to maintain such a demanding schedule?

“I try to go to the gym at least two or three times a week,” said Goode. “I also try to eat healthy foods and avoid junkfood.” Goode represents, in many ways, the ag student of the new millennium — bright, energetic, and able to balance the incredibly complex time demands on today’s student. But despite the hectic pace brought about by modern technology and lifestyles, she says one thing about being a College of Agriculture student probably hasn’t changed much from yesteryear.

“The friends I’ve made in clubs and organizations, the activities I’m involved with, and the bonds and connections I’ve made with wonderful faculty and staff have made my education here a rich and rewarding experience, and that’s probably the best thing about being a student here,” she said.
Some “Facts of Life”
for Today’s Student

• almost half the students in the College of Agriculture are female
• more than 70% of today’s UK undergraduate students are under age 25
• tuition costs for residents is $3,735 a year; non-residents pay $10,275
• on-campus room and board costs about $4,000 a year; a meal card costs $690 per semester
• off-campus rent for a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment, excluding utilities, is about $680 per month; the average electric bill is $32 a month; average gas bill is $50
• the government-set minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, which is about what most students earn in part-time jobs

Yesterday’s Student
Submitted by Bill Moody

• There were very few women in the College of Agriculture. However, the men met a lot of women through the Home Economics Department, which was part of the College of Agriculture at that time.

• Most students didn’t have cars. Their modes of transportation included bus, train, walking, and hitch hiking. To get home on the weekends, Bill Moody used to hitch hike from Lexington to Louisville (which usually meant at least three or four rides with different people). On the return trip he took the bus, a ride of over three hours.

• There were no cell phones, pocket calculators (you knew who the engineers were because they always carried a slide rule with them), computers, or microwave ovens. Books were carried in students’ arms instead of in bulging backpacks.

• Tuition per semester ranged from $150-$200, with housing rental per month running between $20 and $40 (which included utilities).

[CAPTIONS]

Stephanie Goode, taking advantage of today’s technology at W.T.Young Library.

Remember When?
You’ve read what some of our alumni and faculty had to say about their lives as students in the 1940s and 1950s. Can you top their stories? We’d like you to reach back into the recesses of your memory and recall those fun and interesting facts about your days in the College of Agriculture, whether they were fifteen years or fifty years ago. Responses will be considered for possible inclusion in a future Ambassador issue of the magazine. Here are a few questions and topics to get you started.

How much were tuition and books when you were in school? How did you pay for them? Did you have money saved up, receive scholarship money, or have help from Mom and Dad?
Where did you live, on campus or in off-campus housing? Who did you room with? Tell us about your adventures with your roommates.

We want to hear about your jobs — the best, the worst, the hardest, most unusual, most fun, most boring, worst paying. How many hours a week did you work? What did you learn from your on-the-job experiences? How did you make ends meet?

We also want to know what you did for fun. Did you belong to student clubs, were you active in College social events, and did you go to football and basketball games? Or maybe you were good at pulling pranks.
Photos as well as comments are welcome. Please submit materials by mail or e-mail to the address for the ag magazine editor on page 1 of this magazine. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

[CAPTION]

Sue Hobgood and Bob Crawford, Queen and King in the College of Agriculture, 1955.

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Block and Bridle - Eighty Years and Counting!

By Grace Gorrell

December 3, 1923 marked the beginning of one of the most successful student groups ever to be organized at the College of Agriculture and the University of Kentucky, the UK Block and Bridle Club.

To mark its 80th year, a Block and Bridle Reunion and Celebration will be held on September 13, 2002 in conjunction with the Animal Sciences Reunion. The reunion will involve lots of reflections on the past, a glance at the future, and lots of time for mixing and mingling with old and new friends.
Detailed information about the reunion will be sent out this spring to all alumni in our databases whom we have identified as Block and Bridle members.

Over the years, the Block and Bridle Club has provided students who are interested in various aspects of the livestock industry with an opportunity to enhance their leadership skills. Today’s generation of Block and Bridle members do a lot of the same things the club did 80 years ago and have added a few new things, too.
The biggest change since the club’s beginning is that the group has gone from being an all-male organization to one predominantly made up of female members.

Today’s group is still involved in a wide variety of activities, including “Little North American” livestock show, the National Block and Bridle Convention, as well as fund-raising “feeds,” as they would call them, for various groups throughout the year. The club may be best known for its expertise in grilling butterfly pork chops, but it also owns a meat smoker which has allowed it to expand its menu to include pork loin, beef tenderloin, and many other specialty meats.

The Little North American, patterned after the North American International Livestock Exposition held in Louisville, brings back memories for several generations of Block and Bridle members. All members are required to show a pig, dairy heifer, beef heifer, horse, or a sheep; species champions and an overall grand champion showman are selected, and all participants are assured of having a great time in the process.
Block and Bridle members also participate in an academic quadrathlon. Teams consisting of four club members compete against each other on the basis of written exams, oral presentation, laboratory practical at the University farms, and a quiz bowl.

Janet Turley, a Block and Bridle member from 1984-88, found the quadrathlon to be great fun and said it helped her to become more familiar with animals with which she had little previous experience.
Until recent years, the club organized Tots Days, a special day for preschool students from Fayette and surrounding counties to visit the University farms, where club members provided information on each species of animal for the students.

In the early years the group organized a few other activities that have since been discontinued. For example, their fall festival involved a cow-milking contest for women. One of the festival’s highlights was the crowning of a king and queen. They also coordinated a quarter-horse show, with proceeds going toward scholarship programs.
Through all the different activities that these club members took part in, the end result was a group of close-knit friends who have stayed in touch many years beyond graduation. A few marriages have even come from romances first begun at Block and Bridle dances.

We also hope the reunion will help answer the question so many members have reflected on over the years, well stated here by Louann Marksberry Waldner, member from 1984-88: “Fred Thrift . . . does he ever smile?” There is a good chance that when he sees so many faces from the years during which he has been advisor to the Block and Bridle Club that even he will have a
hard time suppressing a smile!

[CAPTIONS]

Jeremy Wyles, Dan DeZarn, and Andrea Husband

Dr. Fred Thrift

Bill Moody with Hampshire Hog

[QUOTE]

Block and Bridle members,
mark your calenders now...
Reunion
September 13, 2002
In Conjunction with Roundup Festivities

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On the Catwalk with Farmhouse

On the CatWalk with Farmhouse

By Libby Noble
Walking across a deserted campus late at night can put anyone ill at ease. Through a safety escort service, the men of Farmhouse fraternity are helping make those after-dark trips across campus less intimidating.
Farmhouse has been awarded the University of Kentucky contract for Catwalk, a program that provides escorts at no charge to people on campus who would like the security of another person’s presence.

According to Farmhouse president Nathan Lawson, Catwalk provides safety escorts from W.T. Young Library, conveniently located across the street from the Farmhouse residence, to anywhere else on campus Sunday through Thursday from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Individuals can request an escort by calling 323-FREE.
The project fits well with the fraternity’s philosophy of building character and serving others.
“Through the years, Farmhouse has been a very service-oriented fraternity at UK, and we pride ourselves on that. Catwalk is an opportunity for Farmhouse brothers to ‘build the whole man,’ serve the campus and the community, and open their hearts and minds to helping others in a selfless way,” Lawson said.

The project has proved to be a popular one among the frat brothers. “We have 52 men involved; that’s 100 percent participation,” said Lawson. “We are good at sharing responsibility.”
Three men are on duty during the hours of service: two to escort, and one to handle the phoned-in requests. Escorts carry a two-way radio with them during the actual walk.

In an effort to expand the program, widen its service area, and speed up service, Farmhouse has requested and received approval for at least one six-passenger golf cart. They’ve also done some advertising to promote the service and increase its use. Through matching funds for advertising, the fraternity has been able to place fliers around campus and ads in the campus newspaper.

While the fraternity conducts many service projects throughout the year, this one will prove to be lucrative for the group. Lawson said Farmhouse will be paid $10,000 to run the program this year.
“We submitted our bid application, and we were awarded the service,” he said. Last year, the campus ROTC was in charge of Catwalk, but lost out in the bid process this year.
Lawson said the fraternity plans to use the income from the Catwalk services for their future housing needs.

[CAPTION]

Farmhouse brother Dustin White escorts Leslie Howard, left, and Jackie Wahrmund.

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Celebrating the Variuos Generations of Ag

Reading through this issue of the Ambassador should make you feel proud of how successful the various generations of our alumni have been! It also shows how many of you have taken the time to share your talents with the next generation of graduates of the College of Agriculture.

The Gus Koch family proves that hard work and determination can get 10 children through college. John Ward and Seth Hancock’s words express to us that it takes long, hard, and patient work — as well as learning from your successes and your failures — to make not only horses successful but also man successful.
I hope you have taken time to look at the day in the life of a student in today’s generation (page 16) and one from the generations of a few years back (page 14). The names and the price of tuition may be different, but all of these students juggled many things to make it through college.
It just proves to me again that the College of Agriculture is a hard-working, devoted family that does what it takes to help each other succeed.

Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I hope your college experience gave you some of the tools you needed to sail away from your safe harbor and find some of your dreams, as the alumni and students we highlighted in this issue have.
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at Roundup ’02 on September 14 and at one of the 15 events we will have around the state this summer!

Grace Gorrell
Associate Director for Alumni & Development

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Faculty and Staff Achievements

Kurt Anschel, agricultural economics, received the Lifetime
Achievement Award at the annual meeting of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association in Orlando.

Doug Archbold, horticulture, received a grant of $114,000 to study ripening and storage life of the native American pawpaw fruit.

Mary Arthur, forestry, has been selected to be a research investigator of the project concerning fire and oak regeneration in the central Appalachians.

José Bicudo, biosystems and agricultural engineering, is part of a research team involved in a European project investigating processing strategies for farm livestock manures to enable maximum nutrient use with minimum environmental problems.

Patricia Dyk, rural sociology, received the Southern Rural Sociological Association’s 2002 Excellence in Research award at the association’s recent meeting in Orlando. Dr. Dyk also was elected program-chair elect for the association.

Mark Farman, plant pathology, received grants totaling in excess of $1.3 million to support fungal genomics research. Those grants include U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation ($792,999); National Science Foundation Plant Genome Program, ($456,096); and Syngenta Crop Protection ($53,000).

Richard Gates, has been named chair of the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, effective April 1, 2002.

Richard Gates, biosystems and agricultural engineering, received a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant of $874,000 to conduct research about reducing ammonia emissions from poultry houses by enhanced manure and diet management.

Richard Gates, biosystems and agricultural engineering, delivered the keynote address at the Agribuilding 2000 Conference held at University of Campinas in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Don Graves, forestry, received a grant of $985,000 to conduct post-mining reforestation demonstration projects.

David Harmon, animal sciences, received a grant of $115,000 from
Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc. to study the utilization of nutrients in dogs.

Daniel Howe, veterinary science, received a grant of $120,000 from Fort Dodge Laboratories to evaluate Sarcocystis neurona antigens in horses. Sarcocystis neurona is a parasite associated with EPM, a serious neurological disease in horses.

Mary Marchant, agricultural economics, was appointed as a member of the editorial council of the Journal of Agribusiness.

Ellen Marshall, regulatory services, was presented the Poundstone Award for her outstanding service to the feed and fertilizer
analytical laboratory.

Lee Meyer, agricultural economics, presented a Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture lecture on the Land-Grant Philosophy in Extension, Teaching, and Research, February 15 in Lexington.

Michael Montross, biosystems and agricultural engineering, received a grant of $76,000 from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study the post-harvest physical properties of corn stover.

Michael Montross, biosystems and agricultural engineering, presented the paper “Corn Stover Handling Characterization” as part of the Systems Engineering program of the Bioenergy Feedstock Development Programs Subcontractor’s and Collaborator’s Meeting sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Memphis in November.

Melissa Newman, animal sciences, received a grant of $75,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research the effects of phenolic compounds on antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The late Bobby Pass, entomology, received a grant of $88,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct a cooperative agricultural pest survey.

Dan Potter, entomology, received a grant of $130,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study biological control of turf-infesting scarabaeid grubs by native and exotic tiphid wasps.

Brent Rowell, horticulture, and Ric Bessin, entomology, received a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant of $170,000 to study alternative production systems for mid-south fruit and vegetable growers.

Chris Shardl (plant pathology), Bruce Webb (entomology), Ernest Bailey (veterinary science), Joseph Chappell (agronomy), Susheng Gan (Tobacco and Health Institute and agronomy), and Mark L. Farman (plant pathology) received a U.S. Department of Agriculture special grant totaling $443,343 to establish the Advanced Genetic Technologies Center for high-throughput genetic analysis and DNA sequencing.

William Snell, agricultural economics, received the Extension Award at the annual meeting of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association in Orlando.

Tom Stombaugh, biosystems and agricultural engineering, received a grant of $130,000 from U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate sensors for delineation of spatial management zones.

Jeff Stringer, forestry, was the national award winner for the Forest Resources Association’s 2002 Technical Writing contest.

Tom Tobin, veterinary science, received a grant of $360,000 from the Kentucky Racing Commission to conduct research concerning new ways to test race horses for the presence of certain legal and illegal substances.

Bruce Webb, entomology, received a grant of $479,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate genome evolution of mutualistic viruses.

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Class Notes

2001
Eric Byrd received an MS degree in forestry from the University of Kentucky in May 2001 and is currently an environmental consultant with the Kentucky Business Environmental Assistance Program. Byrd assists clients with air quality permit applications and technical issues. He also holds an associate of science degree from Florida Atlantic University, as well as a BS in forestry from UK.

2000
Misty Ruth (Miller) Bivens took first place in Kentucky and was among the top eight in the nation in the Farm Bureau Discussion Meet held in December 2001 and January 2002. The Discussion Meet is a competitive event for young farmers.
For her instate victory, Bivens won an Arctic Cat four-wheeler and a trip to the national competition in Reno. Bivens lives in Hodgenville, Kentucky and is an agriculture teacher at LaRue County High School.

2001 Outstanding State Young Alumnus Award Winner

Hugh Johns, Jr. of Robards, Kentucky, has been chosen by the Agriculture Alumni Association as the state’s Most Outstanding Young Alumnus. Johns, who is from the Green River area, was selected from among the area chapters’ winners, and all were recognized at the Winter Alumni event held on January 9, 2002 in Lexington.

Each chapter selects an Outstanding Young Alumnus and a state winner is chosen from among them. Men and women age 40 and below are eligible for consideration. Their selection is based on personal development and advancement, general and civic leadership, support given to the University and the Agriculture Alumni Association, and other awards they have received.

Hugh Johns has worked as a full-time farmer since his graduation from the College’s agricultural production program in 1983. He grows 700 acres of no-till cash grain, 2 acres of burley tobacco, and custom plants 2,000 acres per year. In 1998, he started a field drainage, tiling, and excavating business.

Johns has participated in many civic organization such as Henderson County Farm Bureau, Ohio Valley Farm Analysis, the Farm Bureau State Soybean Advisory Board, the Ag Development Board, and Henderson County Chamber of Commerce. He has also assisted the College of Agriculture by providing test plots for Roundup Ready soybeans and no-till wheat, donating to scholarships, and serving on the Green River Area Extension Council.
Johns and his wife, Toni, have three children, Lyle, 15, Michael, 13, and Macy, 6.

[CAPTION]

The Ag Alumni Association honored its area Outstanding Young Alumni winners during the January 9 Winter Event. From left: Daniel Smith ’98, Bluegrass Area; David Bird ’91, Ft. Harrod Area; Mark Smith ’86, Wilderness Trail Area; Kevin Addington ’83, Lincoln Trail Area; Hugh Johns, Jr. ’83, Green River Area and State winner; Jay Middendorf ’84, Northern Kentucky Area; Justin Marsh ’95, Mammoth Cave Area; Toni Myers ’83, Licking River Area; and Jennifer Elwell ’97, Louisville Area. Not pictured: Daniel Hieneman ’84, Northeast—North; and Mark Alan Herring ’93, Pennyrile Area.

Alumni Association New State Board
of Directors
From left: Bill Smith ’70, Past President; Jeff Pendleton ’85, President; Dennis Parrett ’81, President Elect; Doug Thomas ’81, Vice President; Don Johnson ’70, Secretary; Bobby Gaffney ’75, NAADA Representative. Not pictured: Tony Holloway ’91, Treasurer.

Incoming Alumni Board Members
From left: Susan Hayes ’75,’85, Bluegrass Area; Sara Broadbent Rogers ’90, Pennyrile; Aaron Edelson ’97, Louisville Area; Justin Marsh ’95, Mammoth Cave; David Cornett ’81, Quicksand Area.

2002 Chapter Presidents
Bluegrass Susan Hayes ’75,’78
Fort Harrod Ken Parsons ’81,’85
Green River Larry Dame ’76
Lake Cumberland Terry Bertram ’87
Licking River Don Johnson ’70
Lincoln Trail Bill McCloskey ’84, ’87
Louisville Aaron Edelson ’97
Mammoth Cave Justin Marsh ’95
Northeast North Danny Bailey ’68
Northeast South Suzanne Stumbo ’74
Northern Kentucky Larry A. Walton ’85
Pennyrile Sara Broadbent Rogers ’90
Purchase Brian Stedelin ’97,’98
Quicksand David Cornett ’81
Wilderness Trail Charles Cornett ’42

2002 Faculty Directors
Lori Garkovich
Lyndall Harned Extension Representative
Robert (Bob) Pearce Research Representative

2002 Student Directors
Chad Carney Ag Student Council
Nathan Clay Lawson Farm House
Erin Shultz Independent
Chris Roark AGR
Ellie Fryman CERES

2002 State Officers
President Jeff Pendleton ’85
President Elect Dennis Parrett ’81
Vice President Doug Thomas ’81
Secretary Don Johnson ’70
Treasurer Tony Halloway ’91
Immediate Past President Bill Smith ’70
NAADA Representative Bobby Gaffney ’75
Alumni Coordinator Grace Gorrell ’79
Alumni Coordinator Charlie Edgington ’98,’00

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In Memoriam

Maurice L. Archer, ’50
Georgetown, Kentucky,
January 14, 2002

Manuel B. Arnett, Retired Whitley County Extension Agent for
Agriculture
Cumberland, Kentucky,
November 14, 2001

Charles M. Aull, ’41
Columbia, South Carolina
September 7, 2001

Steven A. Callahan, ’48
Elizabethtown, Kentucky,
December 1, 2000

Robert Leonard Carter, ’53
Hermitage, Tennessee,
August 20, 2001

George B. Coltharp, Retired Faculty — Forestry
Lexington, Kentucky,
December 31, 2001

Mary Bina (Baird) Foree, ’39
Campbellsburg, Kentucky,
December 14, 2001

Warren H. Gardner, ’41
Eddyville, Kentucky,
September 24, 2000

Ann S. Giles, ’36
Hershey, Pennsylvania,
July 14, 1999

Eugenia (Herrington) Green, ’26
Lexington, Kentucky,
February 7, 2001

Paul T. Hamm, ’53
Stanford, Kentucky,
September 2, 1999

Lyle T. Harmon, ’39
Lexington, Kentucky,
May 24, 2001

Alex G. Herndon
Richmond, Kentucky,
December 16, 2000

James E. Kaenzig, ’41
Flemingsburg, Kentucky,
January 14, 2002

Jack H. Kimball, ’49
Goshen, Kentucky,
January 16, 2002

Millard R. Maxey, ’50
Bedford, Kentucky,
December 2, 2000

Edwina B. O’Hara, Retired Crittenden County Extension Agent for Home Economics
Marion, Kentucky,
December 3, 2001

Karen Davis Parker, Pendleton County Extension Agent for Family Consumer Sciences
Butler, Kentucky, August 9, 2001

Myra (Cherry) Phifer, ’45
Lenoir City, Tennessee,
August 7, 1995

Virginia Ransdell, Retired Administrative Assistant for Veterinary
Science
Asheboro, North Carolina,
September 15, 2001

Richard R. Redle, ’49
Ewen, Michigan, date unknown

May (Berry) Rogers, ’29
Wekiva Springs, Florida,
May 13, 2000

William Sanders, ’57
Louisville, Kentucky,
January 31, 2002

Jack W. Stallard, ’24
Hailey, Idaho, July 31, 1998

Charles N. Tarkington, ’37
McLean, Virginia, January 16, 2001

We are sad to report the death of our long-time friend, mentor, and colleague, Dr. Bobby C. Pass, on December 12, 2001.
Having served as chair of the University of Kentucky Department of Entomology for the past 33 years, he was well known and respected for the contributions he made to the department and to the field of entomology.
Pass was featured in the summer 2001 issue of the magazine, in an article titled “The House that Bobby Built.” His tenure in the department was characterized by the addition of young, bright faculty who infused energy into its teaching, research, and extension programs.

To memorialize his many contributions, a scholarship fund is being established for entomology students at the College of Agriculture. If you would like to contribute to this endeavor, please make your check payable to the University of Kentucky and send it to the Agriculture Alumni and Development Office at the address listed on page 24.

Frances Lynn Smith died February 6, 2002 in Lexington, Kentucky. Smith was the administrative assistant for the Associate Dean of Students during the tenures of Stanley Wall and John Robertson. She worked with the College of Ag for 16 years, from 1960-1976.
To honor the memory of Frances Smith, a scholarship fund is being set up in her name. Contributions can be sent to the Agricultural Alumni and Development Office at the address on page 24.

It’s Not Too Soon
to Start Planning for
Roundup 2002!
Don’t Miss . . .

September 11 Farm Bureau Night
September 12 Rotary Lunch and State-Wide Student Recruitment Program
Student/Faculty/Staff Picnic
September 13 Staff Appreciation Day Lunch
Animal Sciences Reunion/Block and Bridle Reunion
Agricultural Economics Reunion
September 14 Alumni Roundup Day

UK Football Wildcats vs. Indiana Hoosiers
Kick-off at 1:30 p.m.

Get ready for big fun under the tents. See you there!

September 1 at Louisville
September 7 vs. Texas—El Paso
September 14 vs. Indiana (Ag Roundup)
September 21 vs. Middle Tennessee
September 28 at Florida
October 5 Open
October 12 vs. South Carolina
October 19 at Arkansas
October 26 vs. Georgia
November 2 at Mississippi State
November 9 vs. Louisiana State
November 16 vs. Vanderbilt
November 23 Open
November 30 at Tennessee

University of Kentucky Campaign Goal:
$600,000,000
UK Campaign Commitments:
$451,465,922
Percentage of Goal: 75.24%

College of Agriculture Goal:
$54,500,000
College Campaign Commitments:
$45,085,589
Percentage of Goal: 82.73%

WEB SITE
http://www.ca.uky.edu

DEVELOPMENT CONTACTS

Agricultural Development
S-129 Agricultural Science Center
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0091
(859) 257-7200

General Development Questions
and Phonathon
Linda Forbes
Administrative Support Associate
lgforbes@uky.edu

Gifts and Estate Planning
William Sheets
Director for Advancement
wsheets@uky.edu

Scholarships, Development Events,
and Endowment Accounts
Kathy Ibendahl
Assistant Director
kibendah@uky.edu

ALUMNI CONTACTS

Agriculture Alumni Association
L-104 Agricultural Science Center
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0091
(859) 257-7211

General Alumni Information
Linda Berry
Staff Support Associate
lberry@uky.edu

State/National Alumni Activities
and Alumni Gifts
Grace G. Gorrell
Associate Director
ggorrell@uky.edu

Area Chapters, Young Alumni,
and Alumni Gifts
Charlie Edgington
Assistant Director
cedgingt@uky.edu

UK EQUINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

805 South Limestone Street
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0399
(859) 257 1308
FAX: (859) 257 -8963

General Equine Research Foundation
Information
Jodi Whitaker
Staff Support Associate
jwhit3@uky.edu

Foundation Gifts
Deborah W. Taylor
Executive Director
dtaylor@uky.edu

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