Abidi, Dotray have been appointed to endowed professorships at CASNR
Two outstanding faculty members with Texas Tech University's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources have received endowed professorships, according to officials today (Jan. 12).
"Endowed professorships enable CASNR to recruit and retain top faculty, which elevates the college's standard of teaching and research," said CASNR Interim Dean Steven Fraze.
Noureddine Abidi, an associate professor with Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science and the newly named managing director of Tech's Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute, was appointed to the Dean Leidigh Memorial Professorship. He has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on funded research grants totaling more than $14 million since 1999, and published more than 80 peer review publications and book chapters.
The professorship, established in 1995, is named in memory of Arthur Leidigh, who served as dean of the Tech's School of Agriculture from 1925 to 1945, and a professor of agronomy until 1950.
Abidi received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from the University of Med I, Faculty of Sciences Oujda (Morocco); and his doctorate in theoretical, physical, and analytical chemistry from the University of Montpellier II (France). He was awarded the H.D.R. (Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches), a French diploma required to be full professor in French universities, in engineering science from the University of Haute Alsace, Mulhouse (France) in 2007.
He has received several awards including the CASNR Research Award, Texas Tech University Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award, Texas Tech University President's Mid-Career Award, and a Fulbright Grant from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (2016). Recently, he was selected to receive a 2017 Texas Tech University Integrated Scholar Award.
Meantime, Minnesota native Peter Dotray, a professor in Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science with a joint appointment at Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Service, was appointed to the Rockwell Fund Chair in Plant and Soil Science. One of his primary goals at Tech has been to carry out research on effective, profitable, and sustainable weed management in all crops grown on the Texas High Plains, and disseminate results directly into the classroom and in outreach activities.
The Rockwell Fund created the professorship in 1982 with an initial gift of $50,000. The Rockwell Professorship was elevated to an endowed chair in 2006, as the endowment funds approached a $1 million. The Rockwell Fund is a private foundation located in the Houston area since 1931.
Dotray, who joined the Tech faculty in 1993, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and master's degree from Washington State University. His doctorate in agronomy (herbicide physiology) is from the University of Minnesota. Awards for Dotray include Dow AgroSciences Award for Excellence in Research (2011) and Teaching (2013); Texas County Agricultural Agents Association's Specialist of the Year in Texas Agriculture Award (2011); CASNR's Service/Outreach Award (2006); Texas Tech's Ex-Students Association Outstanding New Faculty Award (1996); Texas Tech University President's Excellence in Teaching (2006) and Academic Achievement Award (2006).
Written by Norman Martin
CONTACT: Steven Fraze, Interim Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or steven.fraze@ttu.edu
0111NM17 / Editor's Note: For more detailed information of CASNR's Endowed Professorships and Chair, click http://www.depts.ttu.edu/agriculturalsciences/Alumni/profChairs.php
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